


Eternally Eighteen

by chasingthebooty



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Bottom Eren Yeager, Eren blushes a lot, Eren gets a belly button piercing, Eren has yellow eyes, Eventual Smut, M/M, Piercings, Soulmates, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), fast aging, mentioned petra/oluo, slight connie/eren, slight petra/levi, tattooed!connie, very slight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-04 14:41:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 30,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4141632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasingthebooty/pseuds/chasingthebooty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which people stop aging once they turn 18 and don't start again until they meet their soulmate so that they can grow old together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally only supposed to be one part, but apparently I have a thing for switching perspectives, so I split it into three parts. I'll upload the next part within the next day or two.

               “Working again, Levi?” Hanji asks as she passes his office, “It’s your birthday, isn’t it? _And_ it’s Christmas. You shouldn’t stay cooped up in here all day.”

                “It’s none of your business, Shitty Four-Eyes,” Levi mutters, focusing all of his attention on the papers below him. He’s never been one for celebrating Christmas, and fretting over his birthday is silly when he doesn’t even age anymore.

                “I’m just asking,” she holds her hands up defensively, “No need to get all upset over it.”

                “Just leave.”

                “C’mon,” Hanji goes against Levi’s wishes and enters the room, her feet making light taps against the hard floor, “I know you haven’t met your soulmate yet, but you should still celebrate. _I_ celebrate every year.”

                “Yes, but you _also_ religiously check with your doctor to make sure you haven’t developed a form of the plague.”

                “You _never_ know, dear.”

                Levi glares at her, with half a mind to just go ahead and kick her out of his office. The day’s almost over, anyways – outside the window beside Levi, the sky’s a rich, dark purple, with stars painting it sporadically like broken glass after a break-in.

                “Please, Levi?” Hanji clasps her hands together, essentially begging, “Who knows? Maybe you _will_ meet your special little lover if we go out tonight. He or she might just be waiting for you to walk by.”

                “I doubt it.”

                “You’re so difficult, Levi.”

                “Yes, because you’re _so_ much better.”

                “Maybe not,” she agrees, “But, like I said. You never know.”

                Levi sighs, turning his head away and making himself look busy by rummaging through a drawer. Hanji takes that as her sign to leave, and she exits the room, her steps echoing lighter and lighter as she retreats. Levi lets out a muffled groan – she just _has_ to remind him, day after day, that he’s without a lover.

                It’s not even like _Hanji_ has a lover, either. She’s single. She stopped aging at eighteen. She’s been that way for a while. Youthful as ever – when she stopped aging, _everything_ about her stopped aging. Her personality, her face, her body, her skin – _everything._

                Levi, on the other hand, is not so lucky as to be eccentric and beautiful. He’s always been rather stoic outwardly, his thin eyebrows neatly tied together and his eyes cold and gray. He’s managed to scare most people off, with just his appearance, but a few people have been so, ah, _lucky_ to stick around him without fearing for their lives.

                Hanji is one of those people. They met when Levi had entered his second year of being eighteen, and she’s stuck around since. Levi’s not sure if it’s merely because she just loves being around him, or if it’s more so because Levi’s willing to hang around while she chats his head off, but either way, she stays.

                Hanji isn’t his soulmate, though. Levi knows this because he didn’t start aging after meeting her – his face is the exact same as it was nineteen years ago, his body’s still the same, his cheeks devoid of wrinkles, his back relieved of a hunch. Sometimes, it feels like he’s doomed to be eternally eighteen years old. Not that he particularly minds, though – but, he _does._ As much as he tries to tell himself that he’s fine, that these nineteen years of being eighteen years old _haven’t_ been as stressful as they truly _have_ been, he can’t convince himself.

                Hanji, too, is unconvinced. Though she works with Levi – which is coincidentally how they met, her being his assistant – she continues to search day in and day out for her, as she would put it, “long lost lover.” She also tries to help Levi in _his_ quest, by taking him out places and urging him to go and be social.

                All of Levi’s other acquaintances, however, have managed to find their other half. There’s Petra, a cute, strawberry blonde woman with bronze eyes – she met her soulmate, Oluo, before she’d ever even turned eighteen. And for their first year of being eighteen, they were completely unaware that they were meant for each other – that is, until Petra’s birthday came along and she realized that she was, in fact, aging. The year of nineteen is most obvious – it’s when the first of a person’s wrinkles come into sight, it’s when a person’s hair turns gray.

                Petra, though, didn’t realize exactly what was going on until _Oluo’s_ birthday then came and passed, and _he_ discovered that he was aging. And, perhaps they’ve always harbored subtle feelings for each other, but Levi wouldn’t know – they keep their relationship so private.

                It pains Levi, to see his closest friends aging. Petra, Oluo, they’re growing old. Hanji isn’t, but at this rate, it won’t be long until she _is._ And Levi’s stuck, here, in his office, grumpy and depressed because he’s too stubborn to just go out and _try_ to find his destined lover.

                Levi had thought that maybe Petra was his soulmate, but that was proven wrong almost immediately. They met in late November many years ago, at the place in which Levi tends to go for breakfast, and Levi grew a sort of fondness for her. He hid it, of course, until his birthday, which was when he discovered that he hadn’t, in fact, found his partner for life. He knew because he _wasn’t aging._ And that was when Levi decided to just give up on trying.

                There are several signs that prove whether a person has met their soulmate or not. One, of course, is aging – by the time that their next birthday passes, the person will notice that they not only _look_ significantly older, but they _feel_ older too. Whilst the hair upon their head turns a faded color and their hands start wrinkling, their bones, too, begin to ache and their muscles just generally feel weaker.

                But the fatigue is made up for, by the unending reign of love that the person receives from their soulmate, and the undeniable passion that builds inside their heart for the person they’re meant to be with. Or, so Levi’s heard. He wouldn’t know. He hasn’t met such a person yet.

                “Oh, _Levi!”_ Hanji calls, her footsteps becoming significantly louder as she sprints back towards Levi’s office. She pokes her head in and tries again, saying, “Please-“

                “No.”

                “But-“

                “ _No.”_

“Come _on-“_

“Not a chance.”

                “Levi, honestly,” she groans, pouting, “By not finding your soulmate, you realize that he or she is suffering too, right?”

                Levi frowns. He can’t exactly argue that. He looks over, and Hanji’s smirking – she knows that she’s outsmarted Levi.

                “So?” Hanji says, a sway in her hips as she approaches Levi’s desk, “What’dya say? I’ll take you to a nice little shop down the street, the only one that’s open on Christmas day. If you don’t meet your soulmate, I’ll buy you a birthday present to make up for it, alright?”

                Levi grunts reluctantly, but he stands up, allowing Hanji to saunter over to him and wrap her arm around his.

                “You won’t regret this,” Hanji exclaims, “I _promise.”_

“You better be right, Shit-Eyes.”

                                                                                                             ~|~

                “What about that one?” Hanji asks, pointing. She’s moved her arm so that it’s over Levi’s shoulders now, and she presses their heads together, huddling behind a display shelf.

                “Don’t point,” Levi scolds. She wouldn’t have even needed to, there’s only a few people in sight besides the poor cashier who has to stand by and watch their stupidity.

                “The blonde one,” she then clarifies, lowering her finger. “Blue eyes.”

                “No, thank you,” Levi says immediately, catching sight of the woman Hanji’s talking about. She’s short, with shoulder-length hair and a shirt so thin that it can hardly even be called by such a name. She’s beautiful, but Levi doesn’t feel anything when he looks at her.

                “You’re not even going to _try?”_ Hanji groans, giving Levi a slight shake. Levi frowns at her.

                “She’s not my type.”

                “How would you even _know?_ You haven’t tried talking to her.”

                “I just _know.”_

                Hanji mutters something under her breath about Levi being uncooperative, but Levi lets it slide. She’s not wrong.

                “Maybe you’d like to try a _guy,_ then?” Hanji says, “What about, ah, _him?_ In the dress shirt.”

                Levi glances around, and his eyes find the man - he’s incredibly tall, with enough muscle to make Levi wonder if he does anything but workout. His hair’s a light blond, much like the girl that Hanji pointed out had been, and he has a very stern expression decorating his face as he looks down at a bunch of trinkets lining the shelves of the shop. He’s mildly attractive, and Levi might actually go and talk to him if it weren’t for the fact that he looks so tough. Levi likes to establish a little dominance over his loved ones.

                “Not really feeling it,” Levi shrugs. Hanji purses her lips.

                “Alrighty, ah. Um. Let’s see, how about- Oh! What about _her?_ ” Hanji nudges her head towards a tall woman with a ponytail, but Levi doesn’t even look at her for more than a few seconds before shaking his head.

                “This is pointless, Hanji,” he rubs his forehead, “I’m not going to find my soulmate in a shitty corner store.”

                “You might.”

                “I won’t, though.”

                “It can happen at _any_ moment, Levi. In fact, who knows? Maybe your soulmate is the cutie by the counter over there,” Hanji grips Levi’s head, forcing him to look at the front of the store where an employee stands by the front door, sweeping.

                The employee stands, idly chatting with the girl behind the register. Levi can only see the back of his head, but from what he _can_ make out, it looks like the guy has unruly brown hair that falls just over his ears. His skin appears like it’s a shade of tan, but it _could_ just be the lighting.

                The girl that he’s talking to, however, looks much like Levi does - she has dark, black hair and light gray eyes. She’s not looking at the employee who’s sweeping, but she’s instead training her eyes down at the cash register as she counts money.

                “Go talk to him,” Hanji beckons, giving Levi a little push. “Just ask him where the bathrooms are.”

                “How’s _that_ going to tell me if he’s my soulmate?”

                “You’ll feel it!” Hanji cheers, “I’ve done my research. You’ll just _know.”_

“I’ll just know. _Right,”_ Levi mocks, rolling his eyes. But he follows her orders, because, at this point, what really is there to lose?

                Levi slowly walks towards the front, straightening out his shirt and hair. He is, although he’d never admit it, a _teensy_ bit nervous. _Anybody_ could be Levi’s soulmate. Even the girl behind the cash register who’s lacking a smile.

                Levi stands just between the girl and the boy, away by a good two or three feet. He clears his throat, looking first at the girl - who doesn’t even budge when Levi subtly calls for attention - and then to the boy, who swirls around as soon as Levi’s voice hits the air.

                Levi hadn’t noticed it from a distance, considering that not only was he on the opposite side of the store and had only been looking at this guy’s back, but this kid is _beautiful._ He _defines_ beautiful, what with his gorgeously round, golden eyes and his soft face. Levi was right, in that he’s a rich tan, a tan that Levi wouldn’t mind tainting with wet kisses and love bites.

                His hair falls over the sides of his forehead, parted at the very top. It looks soft, so soft, like the feathers of a bird. There’s a light blush just below his eyes, making him even _more_ attractive than he’d been just a second ago, before Levi had noticed it. Levi didn’t even know it was _possible_ for one boy to be so handsome, from his pink lips to his wide hips, his legs that transition perfectly from thigh to calf, his shirt that shows off just the right amount of his arms and his pants that shows off the roundness of his ass. Levi’s _never_ seen someone so incredible - even supermodels, in magazines, couldn’t ever live up to _this_ guy.

                “Ah, uh, how can I help you?” the guy stutters, his eyes growing wider as the blush increases over his face. He bites down onto his lower lip, seemingly embarrassed.

                “Where are the bathrooms?” Levi asks, keeping his voice as even as possible. He’s afraid to even blink, for if he does, this kid might just vanish from sight. Levi wouldn’t mind staring into these beautiful eyes for the rest of an eternity, with his own eyes straining from staying open for so long.

                “They’re, um, I think they’re, ah, that way?” the guy says, pointing down towards a hallway. “Er, I mean, yeah, they’re that way.”

                Levi nods, but he doesn’t move. He searches for a name on this kid, but there is none. No name tag, no tattoos, nothing.

                The girl behind the register clears her throat, but Levi ignores her. It feels impossible, to even _think_ of looking away from this kid. Levi knows he must look ridiculous right now, but holy _hell,_ he has to know this guy’s name. He _has_ to. He might explode if he doesn’t get it right now.

                Levi’s heart pounds, a very foreign feeling flooding his chest and twisting his gut as he stares into the puppy-like pupils of the employee before him. Levi can see himself in his eyes, the golden aura of them washing everything being reflected as a luscious yellow. Levi can feel himself sweating, but he can’t bring himself to move. The boy before him, too, seems frozen - he stares right back at Levi, his cheeks growing even more pink as the seconds pass.

                “Eren,” the girl behind the register says, “We have to close shop soon. Finish sweeping, please.”

                “In a second, Mikasa,” the guy apparently named Eren responds, not looking away from Levi. His voice is like that of a million angels singing a chorus.

                Eren’s fingers tighten around the broom in his hands, and it’s _he_ who averts his gaze first, ducking his head and inching away. Levi, though, isn’t _quite_ done with this kid just yet. He grips his arm, and pulls him back until they’re just an inch apart - Levi’s shorter, but Eren shrinks under his stare.

                “Can I see you again?” Levi murmurs, low enough so that not many should be able to hear.

                “I, ah? I, um, sure?” Eren stumbles over his words, “I, yeah. Here?”

                “Mm, yes,” Levi nods, “Tomorrow sound good?”

                “Uh-huh.”

                Levi finally looks away from Eren, turning to glance at the girl named Mikasa - who’s watching the display before her with an unfeeling face - and he then walks back towards Hanji, all emotion draining from his body as Eren leaves his sight and gradually begins its fade in his mind. He’s tempted to look back and absorb as many little details as he possibly can in what little time is left of the evening, but he doesn’t want to come off as rude for staring just _yet._

“So?” Hanji smiles as Levi approaches her once again, “How did it go?”

                “Fine.”

                “Soulmate material?”

                “Hm. Maybe,” Levi shrugs, not wanting to admit that _yes, yes, absolutely yes,_ he wants Eren.

                “ _Maybe?_ I guess that’s better than the usual _no_ ,” Hanji murmurs, “Still want a birthday present?”

                “No-”

                “Nonsense! What’s your opinion on dogs, Levi? Look at this, it’s a souvenir!” Hanji shows off a little snow globe with a dog inside. The dog’s big and yellow, with a Santa hat over his head. He's surrounded by glittery snow that floats around when Hanji shakes it.

                “No, thank you.”

                “Are you sure?"

                Levi looks down at the snow globe - it's not _bad._ It's actually really cute, if he may say so himself. And while it may be disrespectful to give away a gift, Levi thinks that Eren would be really happy if Levi gave him a present like that. He has that sort of vibe to him - the innocent joy, the cute puppy-like expression.

                Levi, of course, wouldn't dare to tell Hanji that he's planning on giving away his birthday present to some kid that he _just_ met. He'd never hear the end of it, if he told her - she'd go on and on about how he's "finally found his soulmate," when truthfully, Levi's not even sure that's the case. He remembers he felt a feeling very similar to this when he met Petra - the urge to buy her gifts, the lust towards getting to know her and to run his fingers through her hair. That might very well just be what's going on right now - a stupid crush. He won't know for sure until he discovers whether or not he's aging.

                Of course, his little fling with Petra had been _years_ ago. Maybe he _didn't_ feel this exact way about her. Levi's not too sure anymore. The years have started blending together, which is exactly what he fears for - when these nineteen years turn into nineteen decades, nineteen centuries, nineteen millenniums of him just lazing around, watching his closest acquaintances grow old and, eventually, die before he’s even had a chance to feel the way that they feel. Levi doesn’t want to outlive all of his friends. Though he tries to act stoical and unfazed by the fact that he’s without a partner, it _does_ hurt.

                But maybe he’s wrong. Maybe this kid, _Eren,_ with the shining golden eyes and the perfectly toned skin and the thin but not scrawny arms, the boy with whom Levi felt an immediate connection with - maybe he _is_ the one. Only time will tell, and Levi _hates_ that - the fact that it’s so complicated, the fact that he has to wait month after month and maybe even a _year_ until he truly figures out what’s going on.

                The girl, too - what was her name? Mi Casa? Something like that. _She_ could very well be the one. Maybe Levi was misguided, and his emotions were meant to be directed towards the girl, instead. He’s sort of hoping that’s not the case, though. He’s not too keen on waking up every morning looking back into the eyes of a woman who looks just like a female version of himself.

                “If I say yes, will that shut you up?” Levi mutters, in reference to Hanji wanting to buy him a snow globe.

                “Absolutely,” she promises, “I won’t say another word until you’re home.”

                “So you’re walking me home?”

                “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

                Levi raises his eyebrows briefly, but nods. “Let’s go, then.”

                Levi may or may not use that opportunity, as he and Hanji approach the front counter and he, once again, meets face with the pale girl from before, to scope out his possible soulmate - he’s retreated to the corner of the shop, sweeping the same spot repetitively. He seems frustrated, as if sweeping were a competitive sport rather than a chore. He grunts every so often, sighing when the dirt on the floor doesn’t move _exactly_ like he wants it to.

                Hanji proceeds to pay for the snow globe, pulling cash out of her pockets. Levi tries to subtly make his presence known - through means of clearing his throat and shuffling his feet across the floor - but Eren doesn’t look over at him even once. He’s too intent on cleaning. That, or he’s _ignoring_ Levi, but Levi can’t really blame him. He _did_ gawk at him just minutes ago.

                Hanji tugs on Levi’s arm, telling him it’s time to go. And maybe, just _maybe,_ his heart skips a beat when those incredible yellow eyes glance over at him just as he’s leaving the shop, and maybe, _just maybe,_ Levi has an urge to rush back in and pull Eren aside for a conversation or two. He does no such thing, however - he’s content on ending his night with thoughts of wide eyes above tainted pink cheeks, slightly parted lips that belong attached to Levi’s mouth, hips that deserve the pleasure of being allowed to rut up against Levi’s waist as Levi burls himself further and further inside - Levi hardly knows this kid, but just the thought of him brings Levi utter joy.

                Hanji doesn’t mention anything about the encounter, seemingly fine with the idea that Levi’s even _considering_ that Eren could be his soulmate. He _did_ tell her “maybe,” when she asked whether he had any feeling for the boy or not. It really _is_ a huge improvement over his usual definite “no”’s.

                Hanji instead decides to chat Levi’s head off about her favorite kind of dogs, the topic sparked by her buying Levi the snow globe. Levi only half-listens, picking up a few sentences here and there and nodding his head absentmindedly when she pauses for him to respond. Hanji’s apparently completely forgotten about her promise to stay hushed.

                Despite all that Levi says, he really _does_ appreciate Hanji. It’s selfish for him to think it, but he’s glad she hasn’t found her soulmate yet. He wants there to be at least _someone_ who doesn’t run the risk of dying before he does. Levi’s not sure he can handle that sort of pain, over and over again.

                Hanji walks Levi up to his house, and she pulls him into a bear hug before wishing him well and heading off. He watches her leave - she nearly dances her way back to the street, shouting something for all of the neighbors to hear, but Levi can’t really make out what she’s saying. He’s not exactly sure that he _wants_ to know, either.

                Levi unlocks his front door and trudges his way into the house. As always, it’s left the same way it’d been that morning. Clean, with the faint aroma of Windex in the air. He’s surprised it’s lasted that long, the last time he scrubbed the tables of his house was yesterday.

                Though, Levi doesn’t really have the energy right now to start cleaning again. It’s odd, because he’s usually up for a good session of mopping and dusting. For whatever reason, though, tonight he feels so incredibly achy and sore, his legs stiff as he pushes his way upstairs. It’s a wildly different sensation than what he’s used to - while he _has_ felt depressed and grumpy these past loverless years, he’s always been able to come home and scrub floors to get his mind away from things.

                Tonight’s different though. All he can think about as he makes his way towards his bedroom are long, tan fingers, scruffy brown hair, and just how smooth Eren’s skin would feel under his touch.

                It’s crazy, how this all happened so suddenly. Levi fears that he’s being delusional, in thinking that Eren’s special - perhaps he’s merely imagining all of this, in his desperation to fall in love. But he won’t know until tomorrow, when he whisks Eren aside for a chat and gets to hear the chorus of Heaven speak nervous words back to him.

                                                                                                             ~|~

                Levi hesitates. He can’t believe he’s actually doing this, and all for a kid he _just_ met?

                Levi stands outside the doors of the shop in which he’d met Eren, standing idly by as he takes deep breaths in and deep breaths out, mentally preparing himself. His heart pounds rapidly against his chest, his gift in a bag and his best outfit on his body. It’s simple, but effective - he’s made sure to pick out an outfit that would make even the straightest of men swoon, a shirt that shows off the rigid muscles of his upper body and pants that suggest that he’s not _all_ business.

                He’d tried to slick back his hair, but he’d run out of hair gel halfway through, resulting in him having to wash it all out and settles for the usual hairstyle. He supposes it won’t matter too much, though - if Eren really _is_ his soulmate, he’d better get used to Levi wearing his hair like this.

                It’s cold as hell outside - not surprising for late December - so Levi uses the push of the wind to will himself through the doors of the shop. It’s significantly warmer inside, and a little bell chimes to indicate that someone’s entered. That someone being _him_ , of course.

                The shop looks deserted - nobody’s behind the cash register, there isn’t even someone around to greet him. He steps forward, his foot making a loud _click_ against the hard ground, and suddenly, as if he’d been shot out a cannon, Eren tumbles down a nearby staircase and rolls out onto the floor in front of Levi with a loud thud.

                “Ah!” Eren gasps, scrambling onto his stomach and attempting to stand up, only to slip and fall back down, “Shit- Ah, _fuck._ ”

                “Are you okay?” Levi asks, watching the display before him. It’s amusing, though Levi doesn’t really like the idea of this beautiful creature getting hurt.

                “I’m - unf - I’m fine,” he reassures, finally managing to make his way up onto his feet. He straightens his shirt - it’s a gray sweater with an odd logo on it - and he steps towards Levi, the redness back in his cheeks as they’d been last night.

                Levi, too, tries to close the distance between them with a step or two forward. He stays just close enough that he can see his reflection in Eren’s eyes, but just far enough that he’s not painfully craning his head back to look up at the boy.

                Eren’s taller than Levi, but Levi can’t say that he minds too much. He almost likes it, in fact - it gives Eren a little extra leg, a longer lead into that perfect ass of his, more space for his muscles to evenly distribute over his body, and it even allows Levi the opportunity to see every little detail of the boy. By looking up rather than down, Levi prevents Eren from being able to effectively hide his face away or conceal his gorgeous body. Not that he seems to be trying too hard - though his arms are crossed and his fingers hide in their sleeves, his pants could not _possibly_ be any tighter. And Levi’s impossibly grateful for this.

                “Ah, I’m sorry, about that,” Eren apologizes, “I, I was in the bathroom upstairs, and I heard the bell ring, so I thought-”

                “It’s fine,” Levi stops him, “You’re fine.”

                “Oh? Really? I’m sorry, honestly.”

                “I said it’s fine, brat.”

                “I- Ah, okay,” Eren nods, his eyelashes fluttering as he blinks.

                “So your name’s Eren, then?” Levi asks, trying to look more neutral than he feels. In all honesty, he feels like his heart’s about to flop out of his chest.

                “Uh, yeah, how did you know?”

                “I heard it yesterday. When you were talking to, er, what’s her name?”

                “Who, Mikasa?” Eren raises his eyebrows, “Ah, yeah. She’s, uh, my sister.”

                “Your sister?”

                “Adoptive sister, but yeah,” Eren shrugs, “She’s really protective of me.”

                “I see.”

                “If you don’t mind me asking,” Eren says suddenly, his fingers gripping onto the sleeves of his sweater, “What’s, um, _your_ name?”

                Levi blinks, suddenly realizing that he has in fact _not_ told Eren his name. “Levi.”

                “I like it,” Eren smiles, his eyes lighting up even more than they’d been just a second ago, “It sounds fancy. Last name?”

                “Ackerman,” Levi informs him, “And you?”

                “Jaeger. You know, you have the same last name as Mikasa,” Eren states, “Have you ever met her before?”

                “No,” Levi narrows his eyes, “What, you just assume that because we share the same name, that means I automatically know her?”

                “I, uh,” Eren flushes, his smile faltering, “Um, no, I just, I was just asking.”

                Levi feels a twinge of guilt. Maybe he should start using a softer tone around Eren. “No,” he sighs, “I’ve never seen her before.”

                “Oh.”

                Eren averts his eyes, moving his head to the side and scratching beside his ear awkwardly. He seems to be at a loss for words, so Levi, wanting to hear his voice again, says, “So where _is_ your sister?”

                “Mikasa’s not coming in today. She’s on a date.”

                “Hoh?”

                “I know, insane, right?” Eren laughs, “She doesn’t look very, mm, _friendly_ on the outside, but she’s fine once you get to know her. Kind of.”

                “I understand.”

                “Um, so why did you want to see me?” Eren asks, looking back at Levi again. Levi can’t seem to tear his sight away from Eren’s face, he’s so impossibly attractive.

                Levi pauses for a moment, but he decides to just fuck it as he says, “I think you’re beautiful.”

                Eren’s eyes grow wide, and his blush increases tenfold. It flushes his cheeks a bright red, spreading from just under his eyes to over his nose and below his ears. Levi’s not even sure that he _knows_ what Eren looks like without a blush, he does it so often.

                “Oh,” Eren breathes, “I, well, thank you?”

                “Is that a question?”

                “Er, no,” Eren flashes him a nervous smile, “Er. You’re kind of handsome, yourself.”

                “Kind of?” Levi teases.

                Eren chortles, “Yeah. Maybe you’d look nicer if you smiled.”

                “I _am_ smiling,” Levi says, though it’s not _entirely_ truthful. His mouth is as straight as a newly constructed pole.

                “What? You’re lying,” Eren accuses, stepping backwards and seating himself on a wooden stool by a display shelf, “There’s no way.”

                “Sorry I’m not as obvious about it as you are.”

                “I can’t tell whether I’m supposed to be insulted or not.”

                Levi halfheartedly sighs, approaching Eren and propping himself up on the side of a different shelf. Levi appreciates Eren being taller than him, but he’s undoubtedly _far_ cuter when he’s looking up at Levi. Which is saying a lot, considering Eren is now Levi’s little Aphrodite.

                Eren brushes a strand of hair out of his face, and it’s only now that Levi realizes that Eren has piercings - there’s one on his eyebrow, at the very end, with a little ring poking out of it. His ears, too, are pierced - he’s wearing plain, black earrings, the same color as his pants are. Similarly, he has a nose ring, jet black as well.

                Levi had spent so much time admiring Eren’s eyes and his hair and his cheeks, he can’t believe that this little detail about him had slipped by. Levi _loves_ the piercings, it shows a little rebellion in Eren’s apparent anxious nature.

                “How old are you, kid?” Levi asks, tugging the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. He _might_ just be hoping that Eren finds it attractive in much the same way that Levi finds Eren’s piercings attractive.

                “I’m not a kid,” Eren pouts, “I’m eighteen. Just turned eighteen, too, in March.”

                “So this is your first year?”

                “Yeah,” Eren nods, “I like it. Kind of boring, though. Mikasa’s so in love with her date, I think she’s going to start growing old before I do.”

                “Really? You haven’t already found your soulmate?” Levi feels a little joy in this, mixed with an odd amount of jealousy for reasons he can't explain.

                “Not as far as I know. I mean, I keep looking, but there aren’t many people who I, uh, really _feel_ something for, you know?”

                “I know what you mean,” Levi says, “I’ve been eighteen years old for nineteen years.”

                “ _Nineteen?”_ Eren gasps, “What, really? I mean, I can imagine maybe two or three, but _nineteen years?_ ”

                “Don’t rub it in, brat,” Levi scolds. Eren’s blush has died down considerably, though there’s still a hint of it just beneath his eyelids.

                “I’m sorry,” Eren leans back, gripping the stool with his hands, “It’s just, I’ve never met someone so old, you know?”

                “I’m not old,” Levi glares at him, “I’m the same age as you.”

                “Technically, yeah, I guess,” Eren shrugs. “But also technically _no,_ you know?”

                Levi continues to glare at him. It’s funny, how suddenly Eren had switched from cute and awkward to confident and snarky - Levi can’t say that he necessarily minds the change, though. It makes it easier to talk to him without immediately wanting to pounce on Eren and shred him of any innocence left inside those soft, blushing cheeks.

                “So,” Levi decides to change the subject, because, no, he’d rather _not_ talk about how _old_ he is, “You’re here all alone?”

                “Pretty much,” Eren nods, “But not many people come in the day after Christmas, yeah? The only reason I’m even here is because Mikasa told me that I can’t stay in bed all day.”

                “Really?”

                “Mhm. She likes working, too, which is why we were here _yesterday,”_ Eren shrugs, “I don’t care, though.”

                “You don’t?”

                “No. I’ll have lots of other Christmas’ to celebrate. Especially if I’m going to be eighteen for a while,” Eren idly kicks his legs out, holding them up like a child would, level with his torso.

                “You never know,” Levi says, “You might find your soulmate sooner than you’d think.”

                Levi internally reprimands himself for sounding so much like Hanji.

                “I guess that’s true. But on the bright side of coming in to work, I got to meet you today,” Eren grins.

                “That’s a good thing?”

                “Isn’t it?” Eren absentmindedly plays with the piercing in his ear, “I mean, you called me beautiful. You aren’t a rapist or anything, are you?”

                “No,” Levi denies, “Though I will admit, anybody could just walk in here and kidnap you if they wanted to. Don’t you have any security?”

                “I have a bat in the closet upstairs.”        

                “Yes,” Levi says sarcastically, “Because _that’s_ going to help you if I suddenly decided to tie you up and throw you in the back of my car.”

                “Oh, I’m _so scared,_ ” Eren raises his hands in mock fright, “Shorty’s gonna hurt me.”

                “Hoh?” Levi raises his eyebrows, “Come here, then.”

                “I- Ah, what’re you going to do to me?”

                “Arm wrestle.”

                “Oh,” Eren lets out a fake relieved breath, “Thought you were going to punch me in the balls. You know, since that’s the highest place you can reach.”

                “Get over here, brat,” Levi growls, walking over to the front counter, “ _I’ll_ show you why you should be afraid.”

                Eren laughs as he stands up and moves over the settle himself across from Levi, shrugging up his sleeves so that they’re above his forearms. He leans forward and places his elbow on the surface of the counter. Levi mimics him, and it’s immediately apparent that Levi has at least ten times the amount of muscle that Eren has. Levi doesn’t mention it, but from the way that Eren’s eyes widen slightly and his smile falls, Levi can tell that Eren’s just realized that he’s made a grave mistake.

                “Uh, um, okay,” Eren hesitates, eyeing their arms, “On the count of three?”

                Levi connects their hands, intertwining their fingers. Eren’s hands are so delicate, warm underneath his touch and thin. Levi feels that if he tightened his grip he’d break all of the bones in this boy. “On the count of three.”

                “One,” Eren starts, taking in a shaky breath. “Two. Three-”

                Immediately, Eren’s hand hits the counter with a thud that echoes through the room. Eren recoils, groaning at the pain and clutching his fingers with his uninjured hand.

                “ _Fuck,_ ” he moans, “I- I just, ow, that _hurt,_ Levi.”

                Levi smirks at him - he knew Eren wouldn’t win, even if Levi _hadn’t_ exerted his full force to pin Eren’s arm down. He probably shouldn’t have hit him _so_ hard, though. Eren’s hand is turning a light pink, matching the fading blush of his cheeks.

                “Sorry, brat,” Levi shrugs.

                “Not fair,” Eren moans, the smile returning to his features, “You got a head start. That’s all.”

                “A head start?” Levi says, “Eren, we started at the exact same time. I can’t help it if you’re a little slow.”

                “ _A little slow?_ ” Eren rakes a hand through his hair, exposing more of his forehead and the deliciously tanned skin that lies there, “I’ll have you know, I was the eighth fastest runner in second grade.”

                “Out of a class of, what, nine?” Levi taunts.

                “Ten, actually.”

                “Impressive,” Levi says with mock enthusiasm. Eren sticks his tongue out at him.

                “Levi?” Eren asks suddenly, “Are you going anywhere today?”

                “Mm?” Levi moves away from the counter, going to stand by Eren once more, “Not really, why?”

                “Do you think you could stay with me for the rest of the day? Just until Mikasa comes to get me? You know,” Eren leans slightly to the side, “Just in case a rapist tries to kidnap me.”

                “I think I can do that,” Levi agrees. “As long as I get free snacks.”

                “That’s not what’s in the bag you brought?” Eren points towards the item in Levi’s hand, “I meant to ask, but I forgot.”

                Levi, himself, had forgotten that he'd even brought the bag. He’d spent so much time allowing himself the luxury of getting lost in the sight of beautiful eyes and plush lips, he hadn’t even remembered that he had a _present_ for Eren.

                “Ah, this?” Levi lifts it up, “Yours.”

                “Mine?” Eren says with uncertainty.

                “Yes.” Levi hands the present over and Eren takes it with shaky fingers.

                “But- Why? I mean, you got me a gift? You hardly know me, though.” Eren holds the bag out like it’s going to explode if he makes one wrong move.

                “Like I said. You’re beautiful.”

                “Do you buy _all_ beautiful people presents?”

                “No,” Levi admits, “But I’m making an exception for you.”

                The redness is back on Eren’s face, and he slowly opens the crumpled bag, easing the object out. He looks a little surprised by the weight of it, but even _more_ surprised is his face when he sees exactly _what_ the item is.

                He holds it up, admiring it closely - his face is but an inch or two away from it as he looks it over like it’s Halloween candy. Levi, too, notices a bit more about the snow globe than he had just last night, when Hanji had bought it for him, and this morning, when he’d taken the time to put it in the paper bag. Something about being around Eren makes things so much _clearer,_ it makes him see things he normally wouldn’t care to notice, like piercings or the reflection of himself in someone’s eyes.

                The snow globe itself isn’t all that special. It's just a tad larger than the size of Eren's palm, his fingers touching it like the fragile object that it is - though Levi would argue that Eren is just as fragile, if his fine hands and his delicate jawline are any indication. The bottom strip of the snow globe, onto which the glass sits, is a bright, crisp red molding with the words "Merry Christmas" written on it in a dull golden font. Inside the glass sphere above it is a singular dog, what looks to be a labrador or golden retriever, wearing a tilted Santa hat. It's cute, in all honesty - but what's even cuter is the way that Eren's jaw drops and he blinks repeatedly, as if he can't possibly fathom the idea of receiving a _snow globe_ as a _present._

 _"_ Oh, God, Levi," Eren practically moans, "I fucking- I love it, I love it so much."

                "I'm glad you do," Levi says, Eren's drawled voice sending sensations down to places that Levi would rather not mention.

                "Hold on a second," Eren holds up his index finger, "Just _one_ second."

                Eren carefully places the snow globe and paper bag down on the counter beside him, and he then sprints off towards the far side of the shop. Levi tries to follow him with his eyes, but Eren soon disappears behind a tall display shelf, and _damn_ , why was Levi cursed to be so short? If he were just a bit taller, he might be able to see what Eren's doing.

                Levi hears the sound of glass shattering, followed by a muffled string of swears, before Eren returns again, holding both hands behind his back as he clumsily makes his way back over to Levi. He trips over himself, knocking over a table when he accidentally slams into with his hip, but he ignores the mess as he stumbles his way over to Levi once more.

                “Ah, whoopsies,” Eren lets out a pathetic laugh, “Um, here you go. For free, of course.”

                Eren grips Levi’s wrist, pulling on it so that his palm is facing upwards. Eren then places a necklace in his hand, a long silver chain with a locket in the middle.

                “It isn’t much, I’m sorry,” Eren apologizes, “But, for now, yeah? Mikasa will kill me if she finds out I gave you a present before really getting to know you, though, so stay hushed about it for a little while. Please?”

                “I can do that,” Levi says, caught between wanting to admire the jewelry in his hand and not wanting to miss even a second of Eren’s face. Who knows, if he looks away for a second, he might miss a new facial expression. What might Eren look like when he’s cringing, or when he’s crying, or when he’s excited? What about smug? Or uncertain? Levi wants to see it _all._ He _has_ to.

                “Look,” Eren says, picking the necklace back up, “You can put pictures and stuff inside it, yeah?”

                Eren demonstrates, unclasping the locket in the center of the chain. There isn’t anything inside, the hollowed oval of the locket so _empty_ without a picture or two to occupy it.

                “It’s kind of cheap,” Eren mutters, “So, ah, if it breaks, bring it back and I’ll just get you a new one, okay?”

                “It’s fine,” Levi murmurs, at a loss for words. His tongue feels dry, his chest aching with a mixture of lust and utter love, his breath hitching in his throat as he attempts to speak. If he’d received a locket from Hanji, or even _Petra,_ he wouldn’t feel _this_ way about it - Eren’s different. Eren’s capable of making Levi’s gut twist in _such_ a good way, a way that Levi wouldn’t mind continuing to feel for the rest of his life. Levi’s never thought of himself as someone who’d get so caught up in the tangles of a _brat,_ but that was before he’d met the angel before him.

                Levi would slap himself, if it weren’t for the fact that these emotions inside of him are so completely _real_ and _painful_ in all of the right ways. He can’t help but wonder, does _Eren_ feel this way? Does _his_ heart pound wildly, do his toes curl in anticipation?

                “Hey, Eren?”

                “Yeah?”

                “You wouldn’t mind if I put a picture of _you_ in here, would you?”

                Levi, again, for what must be the millionth time that morning, is left in awe from the utter grace of his Aphrodite. He watches as the wheels turn in Eren’s head, and Eren looks towards the ground, attempting to hide his face. Levi’s willing to bet his life’s savings that Eren’s blushing.

                “I, I don’t mind,” Eren says, his voice low and melodious, “It’s just. I’m not very attractive, yeah? I don’t deserve to take one of the spots in your necklace, you should save that for someone else. Like your soulmate, when you find her.”

                “Did I _not_ already say that you were beautiful?”

                Eren doesn’t look up, so Levi grips his cheek with just a little too much force and yanks his head upwards so that he’s looking into Levi’s eyes. Eren's pupils dance frantically back and forth over Levi's face, revealing just how nervous and uncertain he is about this whole situation.

                “Levi?” Eren murmurs, his voice coming out shaky and timid, “Does your chest hurt, too?”

                “Yes.”

                “So I’m not alone?”

                “As long as I’m around, I’ll make sure you’re _never_ alone. Shithead.”

                Eren smiles at that, his eyes like the sunshine to Levi’s cloudy gray irises. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m nervous.”

                “I am, too, if it’s any sort of help.”

                “What, really?” Eren places his hand on Levi’s wrist, which is still claiming hold over Eren’s cheek. Eren’s warm, like a freshly made cup of hot chocolate. “That actually _does_ help, thank you.”

                “So can I have a picture of you, or not?” Levi asks, cupping Eren’s jaw around his hand. He holds onto him lightly now, caressing Eren’s skin with the pad of his thumb. Eren’s cheek shifts under his touch, the blush of his skin heating Levi’s fingers up.

                “I guess you can. I don’t have any with me, though,” Eren says, “Maybe this weekend we can go to the mall together and sneak into a photobooth.”

                “Hm, _sneak_ into one? You’re a bit of a rebel, aren’t you?”

                “Only if you think it’s hot,” Eren smirks, wrapping his fingers around Levi’s.

                “So you care what I think about you?”

                “Just a teensy bit.”

                                                                                                             ~|~

                Levi sits by the front counter, tracing idle patterns onto the surface. He awaits Eren’s return, sending glares every now and then to the one customer who’s in the shop - said customer has a very rich set of brown locks on her shoulders, and she squirms under Levi’s watchful eyes. It’s not that Levi doesn’t like her - he doesn’t know her. He just values his alone time with Eren, in which, he’s had _plenty_ of today. Eren’s sister, Mikasa, still hasn’t returned from her shitty date, allowing Levi to have pretty much the entire day to spend with Eren.

                It’s nearing the hour of five now, and Eren had retreated upstairs to prepare him and Levi a few sandwiches to munch on. Eren offered for Levi to come up to the kitchen with him, but Levi refused, making the point that _someone_ needs to watch out for Mikasa. Eren’s made it quite explicitly clear that Mikasa does _not_ favor the idea of Eren getting to know someone before _she_ gets to know them, for “protective reasons.” Levi just thinks she sounds clingy, but he’s kept his mouth shut about it.

                Levi listens intently, resting his eyes as the faint sound of footsteps upstairs fills the otherwise quiet shop. The brunette from earlier leaves, though Levi only realizes it because of the chiming of the bell - it crosses his mind that maybe he should check and see if she’s stealing anything, but it’s too late by the time the thought occurs to him. She’s gone.

                Levi sighs, resting his chin on his palm. Eren’s taking a hell of a long time for someone who’s just supposed to be making _sandwiches._

The necklace that Eren had given him earlier lies nearby, set down by the snow globe that Levi had given Eren. Hanji’s going to be pissed if and when she finds out that her gift has been given away, but if things go the way that Levi’s heart is begging for, it won’t matter because he’ll be living with Eren and Eren will be living with him and they’ll be _sharing_ the snow globe, and who knows? Maybe they’ll share the locket, too. Maybe one day Levi will wake up next to a beautifully tanned body and lug it out of bed, sit it upright, and whisper sweet words down his spine as he peppers it with kisses, ending on the promise of another tomorrow by wrapping the necklace around Eren’s neck. Or, perhaps, the other way around - maybe it’ll be _Eren_ who latches the necklace around Levi every morning. It doesn’t matter. Levi quite likes the idea of stitching himself to Eren in different forms of love, in kisses and in touches and in cuddles and in sassy comments.

                Levi hears the sound of footsteps grow louder, and he looks over to find that Eren’s racing down the stairs. He, just like this morning, trip over himself, but manages to save himself before his plants himself face first into the ground.

                “Ah, Levi,” Eren says, breathless, “What would you like to drink? I don’t have much, but if you like Pepsi, water, or milk, I’ve got you covered.”

                “Ew, you like _Pepsi?_ ”

                “First of all, _Mikasa_ likes Pepsi. And secondly, what are you, a Coke drinker?”

                “Yes, actually. Water is fine.”

                Eren lets out a quick _hmph,_ and he turns around and starts marching back up the staircase. Levi thanks all heavenly figures for the fact that he showed up on the day that Eren decided to wear tight pants, because _goodness gracious is his ass fine._

                Eren explained to Levi that he lives just upstairs, which Levi finds entirely too convenient. Hell, _he’d_ love to be able to just walk downstairs and get started on work rather than his usual, walk-for-ten-minutes-and-run-the-risk-of-getting-dirty-because-shitty-people-can’t-clean-up-their-shit routine. The only reason he hadn’t gone to work _today_ was because, every year, the entire building takes the day after Christmas off, for whatever ungodly reason. Much to Levi’s delight, however, that meant more time to spend with this gorgeous sea creature that he’s managed to nab just up the flight of stairs. And, additionally, tomorrow, too - tomorrow’s Saturday, and Eren’s already settled out all of the details with Levi. The two of them are going to head out to the mall late in the evening and, firstly, find a photobooth. Then they’ll see where life takes them from there.

                Eren comes back down the stairs not even a minute later, one hand holding a plate filled to the brim with an assortment of sandwiches, the other arm clutching tightly onto two tall glasses. He walks down the steps carefully, clearly having learned his lesson from his previous two attempts to rush down their stairs too quickly.

                “Need any help?” Levi offers, standing up and scurrying over to Eren’s side. He leans forward from the bottom of the staircase, holding his arms out for Eren to give him something and lighten the weight on his body.

                “Ah, no, thank you,” Eren says, though he _does_ hand Levi the plate of sandwiches. He finishes walking down the steps, and he places the drinks on the counter. Levi sets the plate in the center, just between where they’ll be sitting, and he moves over so that he’s back in his seat from before. Eren plops down across from him, picking up a sandwich and starting to dig into it like he’s a starving beast.

                Levi, himself, picks up a sandwich and takes a bite into it. It’s good - _incredible,_ actually. It’s no wonder Eren took so long upstairs, he must’ve been working this sandwich into perfection. Levi can taste every individual layer all at once, tingling his taste buds until they’re practically orgasming inside of his mouth. The sandwich he’s eating has two delicately soft pieces of white bread, and in between them are what must be repeating layers of turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheese slices, and just enough mayonnaise so that it simultaneously demands to be felt but it's also not overbearing. His drink, too, as he sips it and it washes down the scrumptious bite of food - Levi never knew water could taste so _good._

                Eren, though, across from him, doesn’t take _nearly_ as much time to savor his sandwiches. He shoves them down his hole one after the other, as if he were in an eating contest. His drink - which looks suspiciously like Pepsi - depletes at an even _faster_ rate, as Eren gulps incredulous amounts after each sandwich.     

                It’s not like Levi’s not used to the sight, though. He and Eren ate lunch together, too, earlier that day. Eren had prepared two bowls of cereal for them to eat, and though Levi didn’t recognize exactly what kind of cereal he was chewing on, it was delicious. It hadn’t required any actual talent, though, so Levi wasn’t aware that Eren was capable of _this_ sort of fine dining.

                Eren, much like he does now, had nearly buried his face in his bowl when he was eating his cereal. Levi can’t exactly blame him now, though. The food is mouthwatering.

                Levi chooses not to speak as he gradually eats, one reason being that if he spoke, Eren wouldn’t be able to respond for a good five minutes. He has his mouth filled to the brim with bread, and it actually looks _painful_ as he chews and swallows large portions with a wince in his eye.

                Eren eats at such a pace that, by the time that Levi’s reaching for his second sandwich, the plate is already empty and Eren’s wearing his best pair of puppy eyes. Levi could’ve _sworn_ that there were at least six sandwiches on the plate, which means that Eren somehow managed to swallow five before Levi even had one down.

                Eren tilts his head back and drinks up the last of his Pepsi, finishing off his meal with a loud _clank_ as the glass hits the counter. Levi’s a bit gentler, setting down his cup carefully and wiping his mouth with a napkin - which, he happens to carry extras around, _just in case._ You never know when you’re going to need one.

                Levi offers Eren a napkin, and Eren flashes him a huge smile, leaning forward so that _Levi_ can clean him off. And Levi doesn’t hesitate to do just that, using that moment of closeness to further examine Eren’s piercings.

                The one on his nose is surrounded by a hue of red, possibly from being recent. His eyebrow and ears, though, tell a different story - the skin around _those_ piercings is perfectly fine. Levi feels an urge to run his fingers over the piercings, to touch the shiny metal of his rings and to tug on the skin that holds up the jewelry.

                But, then again, Levi would be willing to touch _any_ part of Eren at this point. Whether it be his piercings, his neck, his shoulders, his back. _Anything._ Because _every_ part of him is so beautiful, it’s a shame that he chose to wear a heavy sweater today. Levi wouldn’t mind if he wore something a little more revealing. He wouldn’t mind _at all._

“Hey, Levi?” Eren says, pulling back and crashing down onto his seat once more, “Do you have a phone? I’d love to be able to, um, call you. Or text you. Either’s fine.”

                “I _do,_ ” Levi confirms, pushing himself forward slightly and grabbing his phone from his back pocket. He hadn’t used it all day, and the first thing he sees as he wakes it up is a series of text messages from Hanji whining about him not answering her and not being at his house. He hadn’t even promised her that he _would_ be at his house, but then again, Hanji assumes a fair amount of things.

                Levi slides his thumb across the screen, deliberately ignoring Hanji’s messages. Her last one had been sent about ten minutes ago, and Levi’s glad he didn’t have his phone on vibrate, because that would’ve been _hell_ to sit through. It’s on silent, as well, another bonus - it would quickly grow annoying to have to hear his phone ding every two minutes.

                He sorts through his apps, managing to bring up the contacts list. He then sets it up for Eren to input his number, and he slides the phone across the counter for Eren to mess with. Whilst he waits, Levi shoves aside the sandwich plate and the now-empty glasses away from their bodies. Eren taps on the screen of Levi’s phone, pausing every now and then, seemingly in deep thought - he uses only his index fingers to type, gently pressing the buttons on the glass.

                “What’s wrong, brat?” Levi says, watching the display, “Can’t remember your number?”

                “That’s exactly it,” Eren confirms, “It’s confusing. And long.”

                “Why don’t you just look at your phone and find out what it is?”

                “Because that’s too _easy_ , Levi,” Eren groans, “And I left my phone upstairs.”

                “Excuses,” Levi mutters. Eren glares at him, though it’s unenthusiastic - there’s a smirk tugging on his lips, and his eyes are a saffron yellow.

                “There,” Eren says with finality, sliding the phone back towards Levi. “After you leave tonight, call me and make sure it works, okay?”

                “I can do that.”

                “Awesome,” Eren nods, his smirk turning into a real smile. He lies his head down on his arms, peering up at Levi. His hair falls back, away from his forehead and ears, thrown behind him like puppy ears.

                Levi remains silent, propping his head up with his arm. The emotions that he had welling up inside of him this morning are no different now, nearly ten hours forward in time. His heart still pounds rather loudly against his ribs, though he’s mostly gotten used to the ache of that. His joints refuse to stay still, and he taps his fingers against the counter beneath him distractedly as he traces the fine outline of Eren’s face with his eyes.

                Eren shuts his eyelids, his jaw relaxing and his shoulders drooping slightly. Levi can tell that he’s not asleep just _yet,_ but he’s certainly on his way there. His breathing grows steadier and heavier by the second, his body lightly heaving up and down in time with his inhales and exhales. He’s so serene, falling asleep like this - every so often, his eyes flutter open, and he glances up at Levi, but his resolve to try and stay awake soon falters as his snoring begins to fill the air. It’s not a loud snore, but it has just enough volume for it to be considered as such.

                Eren’s mouth falls open, and it’s cute, albeit simultaneously gross and _filthy,_ the way that he starts drooling on his arm. Levi stands up, tiptoeing over to the side of the counter where Eren sits. He searches around, finding a towel for sale on a nearby display shelf - he grabs it, unfolds it, and returns to Eren, draping it over his shoulders. It’s a light ocean blue, a fair contrast to Eren’s bronze skin.

                Levi leaves it that way. He doesn’t try to touch Eren, he doesn’t try to force a kiss upon him. Because if the two of them truly _are_ meant to be, then Levi will have plenty of time to do all of that and _more_ later on.

                And maybe Levi _just so happens_ to find a gray hair on his head when he gets home. Just a possibility, though. Could’ve been the lighting. Who knows? It's not like he was _looking_ for one, anyways.

                                                                                                             ~|~

                Levi clicks on the contact listed as “Eren Jaeger;-))” in his phone. Eren had been the one to type his name in, when he put his number in Levi's phone, hence the winky face - Levi's not too much of an emoji guy, himself. He doesn't change what Eren put, though. There's something about it, the little wink, that begs his lips to upturn, even if only slightly.

                He pulls the device up to his ear, allowing its ringing to fill the air beside him. Levi sits, crosslegged, on his bed, awaiting Eren's perfectly imperfect voice to soothe the nerves that flood into Levi's fingertips and tingle in his wrists. He decided to wait until morning to call Eren, for no reason other than the fact that Eren had fallen asleep by him last night and Levi didn't want to wake him. Though, he doesn't exactly know Eren's schedule, so he very well could _still_ be interrupting Eren's resting by calling him at nine in the morning. Eren seems like the kind of brat who lazes around until he absolutely _has_ to be awake.

                Levi tugs on the legs of his boxers, using the feeling of his fingers twisting around the fabric as a source of comfort. He, himself, has just woken up, it being a weekend day. Saturday, to be more exact - Levi's almost surprised that he's woken up _this_ late, his body's gotten used to waking at the ripe hour of five in the morning. Partly due to Hanji finding new ways of barging into his house every day, of course.

                The ringing in his ears drags on, each second causing an ache in the center of his chest that resonates throughout his breasts and abdomen. It hurts, it _stings,_ but Levi can't say that he entirely minds the pain. It's worth it, for the yellow-eyed wonder who awaits him, in mere walking distance away.

                Levi tries not to count the rings, knowing that it'll only cause him to feel increasingly anxious, but he can't help it when his heart starts to plummet after the third or fourth ring. But, to his _very_ immediate delight, the fifth ring is his lucky number.

                "Hello?” sounds the blissful melody of a none other than Eren Jaeger, his voice sending instant simulations down to certain parts of Levi that he’d rather leave unmentioned.

                “Hello, Eren,” Levi replies, lowering his tone in an attempt to sound as seductive as possible. It usually works, at least, with _other_ people - Levi’s been able to lure in _many_ one night strands with just the hum of his voice, so he has high hopes that it’ll work on Eren. He’d love to have Eren fall in love with him, he’d love to curl up next to him and kiss him down his spine, possibly while Levi’s pulling back and thrusting into that-

                “Ah, Levi?” The smile is evident in Eren’s tone, with the way he so enthusiastically says Levi’s name.

                “Yep.”

                “Oh my _god,_ ” Eren practically moans, and _no,_ it definitely does _not_ cause Levi to _maybe_ want Eren to suck his dick _right now,_ “I’ve been waiting for you to call _all morning._ ”

                “What, really?”

                “Yeah,” Eren says, “I woke up, like, an hour ago. I thought maybe you’d be an early riser.”

                “I usually am,” Levi traces over his inner thigh with his index finger, allowing the thoughts of _Eren_ to fill every corner of his mind, “Not sure why I woke up so late today.”

                “Oh. Are you still up for going to the mall later today?”

                “Of course.”

                “Do you think you can come pick me up around three? That’s when Mikasa leaves to, uh, go to her taekwondo lessons.”

                “She takes taekwondo?”

                “Mhm,” Eren laughs nervously, “I think she’s only doing it so that she can protect me. She’s, er, _like_ that.”

                “Mm.” Levi blinks, finding it a bit peculiar how Eren’s adoptive sister seemingly dedicates such a large part of her life to Eren. But, then again, Levi doesn’t know the situation. For all he knows, Eren could be a clumsy damsel in distress who needs saving all of the time. He _did_ greet Levi yesterday by tumbling down the staircase.

                “I’m sorry for falling asleep yesterday,” Eren apologizes, “I didn’t even wake back up until after midnight.”

                “It’s fine. I thought it was really cute.”

                “You didn’t _do_ anything to me, did you?” Eren jokes, giggling at himself.

                “No,” Levi smirks - though, if he had to be completely honest, he wouldn’t mind doing _something_ to Eren right now. Even though his body feels an odd sort of weak, for reasons that even Levi himself doesn’t understand, he’d be willing to use what little strength is left in himself to position his abdomen rather nicely between two golden legs.

                “Good. I’m still a virgin, then.”

                If Levi were drinking something, it’d be spat all over the room right about now. Instead, all that occurs is a silent, sharp intake of breath - it’s incredible, how much control Eren’s already got over Levi’s life and emotions. Just the thought of Eren, the pierced cutie who wears oversized sweaters and pants tight enough to make _any_ man pop a boner, all pure and innocent in terms of having made love to someone - Levi could so _easily_ shred him of any naivety he might have towards the subject. Would Eren try to fight for dominance, or would he be submissive and flushed, back arching against Levi’s chest and hands clawing at his torso? Either way, Levi would be willing to comply to any requests he might have.

                “Hoh,” is all Levi can bring himself to utter back.

                “I’ll see you at three, then?” Eren says, “I have to go, I think Mikasa’s coming upstairs.”

                “Yes. Bye, Eren.”

                “Bye, Levi,” Eren murmurs, and there’s a minute of silence before he hangs up on Levi.


	2. Chapter 2

            “How much do you need, Eren?” Mikasa asks, tying the laces on her boots.

            “Ah, I don’t know, maybe twenty dollars?” Eren sits, crosslegged on the stool behind the cash register. It hurts, the position that he’s in - the seat is _much_ too small for someone with such long legs to sit on with the entire lower half of his body fighting for space, but he stays like this because he’s too lazy to change.

            “Belly button piercings are that cheap? I thought they’d be a lot more expensive than regular ear piercings.”

            Eren just shrugs, emitting a vague noise reminiscent of a mumbled “ _I don’t know_.” Mikasa sighs, but she grants Eren permission to take whatever amount of money he needs - and he does just that, excitedly ramming open the cash register - cutting his finger in the process - and taking out the amount he needs and a little more.

            “I’m leaving now,” Mikasa announces, bending over to pull up one of her stockings from where it had started falling down her leg. She looks incredibly cute tonight - more so than usual - with her short skirt, knee-high boots, cheesy Christmas sweater and, of course, her dark thigh highs. Eren suspects that she’s going out on yet _another_ date after her martial arts lesson, but Eren’s fine with that. If it’s what makes her happy and keeps her out of his hair for a few extra hours, she can go on as many dates as she wants to tonight.

            “Buy me a candy bar on your way home,” Eren tells her, just as she’s grabbing her bag and preparing to go.

            “Um, are you _not_ already using enough of my money to buy yourself a belly piercing?”

            “But that’s _our_ money.”

            “How do you figure?”

            “I made it. I’m _eyecandy,_ Mikasa. Why do you think we always have so many customers?”

            “ _Sure_ you are,” she rolls her eyes, “How about you buy _yourself_ something, then, if it’s _our_ money?”

            “But, I don’t- I mean, it’s just _easier_ for _you_ to buy it for me, yeah? So that I don’t have to put out any effort,” Eren pleads, flashing her a pair of puppy eyes.

            “No, thank you,” Mikasa merely says, “I’m leaving.”

            “But, Mikasa-”

            “Bye, Eren.”

            “Wait, _please_ -”

            “Try not to set the building on fire. I’d like to be able to come home and _sleep_ tonight.”

            “When have I _ever_ started a fire here?”

            “There was that time when you were-”

            “I thought you were _leaving,_ ” Eren pouts, jutting out his lower lip and crossing his arms over his chest.

            “I am,” she walks towards the door, “Like I said. Don’t start any fires. And don’t eat everything, either.”

            “ _Go away._ ”

            “I’ll miss you, Eren.”

            “ _Leave._ ”

            Mikasa smiles at him, and she finally waves him a final goodbye, bracing herself for the cold as she exits the room. Eren breathes a little sigh of relief - her leaving means that he can finally prepare himself to meet up with Levi, he can dress himself up without Mikasa’s questioning and he can fret over his appearance without her coming up and teasing him about it.

            Eren untangles himself from the ball he’s formed of himself on his chair, standing up and straightening himself out before rushing upstairs. He shoves the money he’d collected from the cash register in his mouth, because cleanliness be damned, and he finds his way into his bedroom, at the end of the staircase going upstairs and to the right.

            He instantly gets to work, meandering his way over to his closet and sorting through it. He tosses aside outfits that are definite _nope’s_ and works his way to the core of his belongings, mind and heart racing as nothing but _Levi_ floods into his mind.

            What would _Levi_ like to see him wearing? He has absolutely no idea. He’d been too preoccupied yesterday, watching the way that Levi’s muscles glint under the artificial lighting, watching the way that his eyes narrow when Eren stumbles over his words, the way that his mouth so slightly upturns when Eren gets sassy with him, to even _bother_ to notice what _Levi_ might’ve been wearing.

            But if Levi’s his soulmate - as Eren is sincerely hoping for - then should it even _matter_ what he leaves the house in? Should it matter, whether he’s bearing messy hair and tight pants or whether he’s decked in a full suit, hair slicked back and a monocle over his eye? It _shouldn’t._ That doesn’t stop Eren from worrying, though.

            After he’d woken up last night, it took him a few hours to get everything oriented - Mikasa still hadn’t returned, for whatever reason, leaving him just enough time to nearly have a panic attack over whether all of that time with Levi was real or not. The only thing he got out of all his anxiety was stunted fingernails, bitten from the hours he’d spent contemplating and spinning around in a chair, mind wandering and questioning about if he’d merely _dreamt_ that Levi was real.

            Levi seems too good to be true. He’s so _dashing,_ and while he’s incredibly frightening, what with the way that he looks at everything as though it’s a piece of shit and the way that he nearly broke Eren’s hand off from arm wrestling, Eren _loves_ that about him. He’s always been a bit of a hopeless romantic, or so he’s been told by a none other than Mikasa Ackerman, who likes to point out that whoever Eren’s destined soulmate is better be prepared for a lifetime of cuddles. And she isn’t wrong - Eren quite likes snuggling up next to whatever’s available, whether it be Mikasa, his pillows, his favorite shirts, a broken piece of glass - if it’s able to be held close, Eren’s going to hold it close.

            If Levi truly is meant to be his, Eren decides, then he’s going to have to get used to Eren’s usual style of attire. Which is what leads Eren into dressing himself up in tight, dark pants - he might as well put his long legs to use for _something,_ and hey, what better than showing off what he’s got? - a sweater that extends past his fingers, much like the one he’d worn yesterday - it’s cold outside, anyways - and his favorite rings, black on his earlobes and white through his other holes. His piercings run the length of his cartilage on both ears, and while it’s tedious to have to switch out every single stud whenever he wants a change in style, Eren doesn’t truly mind. He actually _likes_ wasting a good thirty minutes every day, taking out yesterday’s - Eren has a tendency to fall asleep before remembering that _maybe_ he shouldn’t take a nap with his nose ring still in - jewelry and cleaning each and every individual piece, then switching it out with a _different_ ring to be _also_ cleaned and then inserted in one of the holes of his head.

            He doesn’t bother to brush his hair, because that would take _far_ too much time and effort. He’s spent _enough_ time stressing over _Levi_ and his _fingers,_ his perfect _hair,_ those gray _eyes,_ the deepness of his voice and how it pleasures not only Eren’s ears, but it relaxes his shoulders and clears his head simultaneously _-_ and, really, everything about him does so. Eren has yet to find a single part of Levi that he doesn’t take full adoration in - he wants to not only _see_ every part of Levi, but there’s a part of him that wants to _feel_ and _smell_ every part too, to have Levi’s wonderfully sculpted arms wrap around Eren’s, admittedly, smaller frame and to have Levi hold Eren in his lap and maybe run his fingers over Eren’s legs - to Eren, having all of that sounds like a _paradise._

            It’s silly, it’s _stupid_ of Eren to just assume that because Levi’s seemingly taken a liking to him, and Eren, too, returns said feelings, that they’re soulmates. That might not be the case at all. It’s entirely possible that Levi just wants to have a fun time with him, and then leave once he finds his _real_ partner - the guy _did_ say that he’s been eighteen for nineteen years. Even Eren, who tries to find some sort of reason for every day to be a good day, would grow tired of that sort of life. He doesn’t want to stay young and despairing forever, he wants to go ahead and grow up with whoever he’s meant to be with and die in their arms.

            Maybe Mikasa’s right to call him a hopeless romantic.

            Eren, however, doesn’t feel much older than he usually does. Even after meeting Levi, he feels much the same as he always does, with the exception of an ache in his wrist, but he suspects that it’s from when Levi nearly tore his hand off through arm wrestling.

            Eren remembers being eight years old, resting his head against Mikasa’s shoulder as she read out stories to him of princesses who stayed young for many centuries, princesses who were courted by many men but never finding just the right one. Stories of sad boys, boys who have had to sit back and wander the earth alone in search of their other half while their lover did much the same, but in the opposite direction.

            Eren doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want to live forever, while his sister ages and while he looks on enviously to the older members of society.

            The concept of immortality _should_ sound appealing - to be able to live forever, to be able to visit a million different cities and try a million different foods - without worrying about weight gain, of course, the metabolism of an eighteen year old is relatively spectacular - and to be able to just generally do whatever the hell he wants to do. It _should_ sound like something to strive for. It should make Eren want to lock himself away in his room, put on a mask, and never talk to anyone new ever again.

            But it _doesn’t._ Eren would rather fall dead in the arms of someone strong, without having seen the passing of a century, instead of having to sit idly by as day after day blends together and becomes increasingly _boring._ A soulmate is supposed to liven up a life. They’re supposed to make every moment a million times sweeter, they’re supposed to fill an emptiness that resides in every heart.

            Eren _does_ feel a little lonely, as he waits and waits and waits for Levi. It’s not even the usual loneliness that he feels when he has to wait for Mikasa to come back from taekwondo. It’s a _different_ loneliness - the only way to describe it is that Eren feels like a part of him is in a complete depression. His head feels clear - with the exception of his bouncing nerves - but his chest aches so badly that it feels like he’s been mashed with a bat, his heart feels like a pit of darkness has opened up inside of him.

            Eren _wants_ a soulmate. He’d never noticed it before, because he’d been living that way for nearly eighteen years now, but he’s _always_ had an aching in his core. It had always been there, in the background, numbing him but never showing face until Eren realized what it felt like to _not_ have that emptiness inside of him. Eren’s always had that faint pain is his chest, but it completely disappears when Levi’s around, which is why Eren so desperately wants _more_ of Levi and his muscles and his taunting and his ability to know exactly what to say and when to say it.

            And maybe this, the assumption of Levi being his soulmate, is all just a side-effect of that want for the emptiness of his heart to be filled - Eren foolishly puts his heart into things that are uncertain, with the hope that maybe things _will_ work out the way he wants them to. With the hope that maybe he’s found someone to age with, someone who won’t mind the wrinkles or the old person smell, the dandruff, the sagging. Eren certainly wouldn’t mind it in his significant other, as long as said person is willing to hold him close at night.

            That’s what he’s striving for, with Levi. The hope that Levi’s not just some guy who wants to play with Eren’s heartstrings, that Levi feels the same sort of rush looking at Eren as Eren feels when he stares down into those gray eyes of his. The blood easing into his face, the erratic pattern of his heartbeats, the gluing of his eyes to everything that Levi beholds - Eren wants someone to feel that way about him, too. And while Levi _did_ call him beautiful and confirm that his chest, indeed, ached as he stood by Eren, that doesn’t really make anything certain.

            The only way for Eren to get any sort of verification of whether he and Levi are to be together forever is to wait. He has to let time run its course, for it to either keep him youthful and energetic, or for it to deteriorate his bones and wash the tan hue from his skin.

            Aging occurs so differently in everyone. Eren has no doubt that Mikasa’s found her lover, what with the way that she always goes out to them nearly every single day, but she looks as young and pretty as she’s ever looked. Himself, though - Eren hasn’t stopped to give himself a full inspection since meeting Levi. For all he knows, he could very well already have the appearance of a founding father. Some people age quickly, some people don’t, some people die incredibly young and some live to see their nineties - it’s all a matter of time and patience, and Eren just has to wait and see what life does for him. Who knows, maybe he’ll have a full head of white hair before he’s even thirty. The effects of aging usually mirror two lovers, so at the very least he won’t be alone. White hair’s attractive, isn’t it?

            Eren briefly stops to check his appearance in a small mirror in his bedroom - thankfully, he _doesn’t_ look like a founding father yet. He glances down at his toes and runs a hand over his stomach. While he might not look middle-aged yet, he really should probably lay off of the sandwiches for a while, they aren’t doing his tummy any favors.

            Eren takes one last look around his room - on his bedside table, he had set the snow globe that Levi gave him right next to his alarm clock. He put it there last night, during his many hours of sulking and pondering. In hindsight, it’s probably not the smartest of ideas to put it in such a place, considering Eren’s room has hardwood floors and he has a tendency to wake up and flail his arms about, not bothering to open his eyes as he searches for the snooze button on his alarm clock. One accidental hit, and the snow globe is busted. But Eren can deal with moving it away from his clock later, whenever he feels like it. Right now he has more pressing matters at hand.

            Next to the snow globe is the locket he’d given to Levi - Levi must’ve forgotten to take it home, as Eren had found it on the counter when he’d woken up. He doesn’t take offense to Levi forgetting about his gift, of course - it’s cheap, anyways, and considerably small.

            Eren’s still going to find a way to return it, though. So he walks over, picks the locket up, and ties it around his neck. He likes the way it feels, against his collarbones as he tucks it nicely under his shirt - the chain is just long enough that the charm on the end hits him right between his breasts. It’s cool, against his skin, but it feels incredible - Eren _loves_ jewelry. It’s the reason he has holes all up the side of his ears and on his eyebrow, by his nose and soon on his belly, if things all go the way he’s betting on.

            Eren spits the money out of his mouth, only just now realizing that it’s been sitting there soaking in his drool for _far_ too long. It comes out with a trail of saliva, and Eren winces at the thought of where this money could’ve been and _why exactly did he think it was okay to put it in his mouth?_

Eren shoves the bills in his back pocket, struggling for a moment as the jeans refuse to separate more than an inch from his skin. He loves tight clothing, but they’re such a _bother_ sometimes.

            Eren checks his alarm clock for the time - it’s nearly three o’clock now, and Levi should be arriving at any moment.

            Just the mere _thought_ of Levi sends Eren’s heart into overdrive. He doesn’t know why, he’s hardly even known Levi for very long, but he still finds himself wanting to bury his face in the guy’s neck, he wants to wrap his arms around his shoulders, he wants the luxury of being able to throw his head back while Levi skims over his body with those _fingers_ of his, the long, thin, pale fingers, the fingers that so delicately touch what comes into contact with him.

            Levi probably could work _magic_ with those fingers, in more ways than just simple cuddling.

            Eren reaches for his phone, grabbing it from where it lay on his bed. He doesn’t have any messages from Levi, though he decides to keep his phone close to him now, just in case Levi wants his presence to be known via a text.

            Eren, in the idle time, pulls on a pair of shoes - they’re simple slip-ons, and they don’t match anything that he’s wearing, but he thinks that it helps complete the whole “I-just-got-out-of-bed” look that he’s going for. That, or Eren has horrible fashion taste. Likely more so the latter.

            He paces up and down the stairs, around his room, and through every crevice of the building, biting on his nails and constantly straightening his shirt out. It feels as though, with every passing second and every step forward, Eren's heart beats a little faster.

            Levi's going to be here soon, he should be here at any moment. And then what? Will he and Levi immediately head out, or will Levi linger? Will he be dressed up, shunning Eren for not even bothering with his appearance, or will he look much the same as Eren does?

            These little details and more are what preclude Eren from feeling relaxed. He can't possibly calm down, not when there's a very incredibly handsome short man coming to collect him, a short man whose mere presence makes Eren's face turn a bright scarlet and makes his fingers tremble in his sleeves.

            Eren freezes, feeling a fast vibration in his hand, right where his phone is placed between his fingers. It stuns him, and with an anxious ache in his chest, he pulls the phone up to his face and reads the message that displays itself on the screen. His eyes strain against the lighting, but it’s worth it as soon as he sees the name _Levi <333 _on his device.

            _Get out here, dumbass,_ it reads.

Eren can’t breathe. He absolutely can’t breathe. At all. He can’t move, either, but if he doesn’t move, he won’t be able to breathe.

            Eren, with stiff legs, wills himself forward, dashing downstairs towards the front door. He doesn’t even bother to look in the mirror and make sure that he’s still approachable after all of his pacing - he _does_ feel like he’s doused in nervous sweat, but he can’t bear to do anything but _find Levi_ right now.

            He pushes open the entrance door, and much to his gleeful surprise, there certainly _is_ a very incredibly handsome short man waiting for him, dressed with long sleeves that do his toned body justice and equally as tight pants that _holy shit, his calves could probably lift fifty extra pounds alone._

Eren runs his hands through his hair, attempting to smooth back as much of it as he can - fuck his life though, because his hair all falls back into its original position just as soon as it’s pulled away from his forehead. Eren knew he should’ve paid attention to Mikasa, all those times she’s tried to lecture him on looking nice for others.

            “Ah, hi,” Eren says, fluttering his eyelashes and timidly hiding his arms behind his back. His phone’s still in hand - part of the reason being that he’s too preoccupied with trying to figure out whether he should or whether he shouldn’t look at Levi’s captivating _biceps,_ and part of the reason being that he’s not sure he could even _fit_ his phone in his pants, they’re so tight. He could hardly fit _money_ in there, there’s no way something like a phone will fit - Eren has really bad foresight, to allow himself to wear something so useless just so that he can show his ass off to a guy who might only _want_ his ass. He should’ve worn slacks.

            “Hello,” Levi responds, _why is his voice so deep?_

            “Um. Are we walking there?” Eren asks, scanning his eyes around - the sidewalk around them is empty, with the exception of the usual dead flowers by the shop windows and the frosted-over ground. _Maybe_ , he thinks, he’ll pretend to slip, just so that he can land in a hard pair of buff arms. _Maybe._ He _has_ already proven to Levi that he’s a clumsy motherfucker, what with his innate ability to fall down stairs and to lose arm wrestling competitions.

            “Unless you’ve broken your legs,” Levi says with the slightest of eyebrow perks.

            “I’m standing, aren’t I?”

            “You have a point. Let’s go,” Levi waves his hand, indicating for Eren to come closer, “I assume you know which way we’re going?”

            “Uh, ah, yeah, kind of,” Eren shrugs, peering off to the side with high hopes that it’ll prevent Levi from seeing the blush that’s creeping onto every inch of his face, “Mikasa takes me to the mall every two weeks or so.”

            “Oh?” Levi says, “She really likes you, doesn’t she?”

            “Adoptive sister, remember?”

            “Mm.”

            Eren takes the lead, walking a good step or two in front of Levi as he guides them further and further away from Eren’s sanctuary. As much as Eren tries _not_ to look at Levi, he can’t help himself when his head subconsciously whips itself in his direction, the blood rushing to his face immediately at the sight of Levi’s icy eyes - Eren might even go so far as to say that they’re even colder than the weather outside, but that would imply that Eren’s _not_ freezing his butt off, and he most certainly is.

            “Oh, _shit,_ Levi,” Eren gasps after a moment of silence, “Your present. I forgot to give it back.”

            “Hm?”

            “You forgot your necklace,” Eren explains, hands reaching up and fumbling with the chain on his back to no avail, “When you left me last night.”

            Levi doesn’t say anything, but Eren can feel his pupils burning into his skin as Eren tries - and fails - to remove the chain from around his neck. Eren side-glances over at him, and sure enough, he stands idly by with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed at Eren’s struggling.

            “Hey, dummy,” Levi says with a hint of amusement in his voice, “Need some help?”

            “No.”

            “Eren.”

            “ _No.”_

“Eren, don’t be stupid.”

            “ _Shut up_.”

            “Is that really your best response?” Levi scoffs, “Come here. Lean back a little.”

            Levi goes and stands behind Eren, Eren shifting his upper body backwards just enough for someone like Levi to be able to reach his neck without having to get on his tippy toes.

            Levi ghosts his fingers over the nape of Eren’s neck, his hands taking an extra second before actually starting to unlatch the chain from around him. It only takes him a breath, but it feels like an eternity for Eren - his mind zeroes in on the feeling of Levi’s cold skin, his thin hands bumping against Eren’s neck, the tickle as Levi brushes over the ends of Eren’s hair. It’s all so mesmerizing, Eren wouldn’t mind if Levi kept touching him this way for a little longer.

            “Thank you,” Eren mutters as he pulls the locket from around himself and places it in Levi’s grasp.

            “Not a problem,” Levi simply says. He doesn’t put the necklace on, though, which makes Eren feel unusually disappointed - he hadn’t even let it cross his mind that Levi might not immediately wear his gift. Maybe Eren was stupid to think that Levi might like jewelry.

            “Eren?”

            “Hm? Yeah?”

            “Can I hold your hand?”

            Eren allows himself to look over at Levi for the first _real_ time all evening, his sight unblocked by his fuzzy vision and the rush of his blood to his face. Levi’s staring right back at him, the necklace hanging loose from the hand farthest from Eren’s body. He holds the other hand out for him, and though his face suggests anything but desire, his body language tells Eren otherwise.

            Eren gives him a shy smile, and inserts his hand above Levi’s - he’s cold, but a lot warmer than the rest of the world around them. His fingers slide easily into the spaces between Eren’s, his grip tightening on Eren periodically, as if Eren might forget that he’s there. There’s really no chance of that happening, though - it, in fact, would be a feat for Eren to forget about the presence of Levi. Eren’s never blushed so much in his entire life before.

            “Your hands are really soft,” Levi comments, his thumb running up the side of Eren’s index finger.

            “Oh.”

            “It’s a compliment, Eren.”

            “ _Oh._ Oh. Oh, thank you?”

            Levi lets out a huff of breath reminiscent of a brief laugh, and he keeps pace with Eren, their strides now even despite the height difference in their legs. Levi’s legs are a little wider than Eren’s, and he takes faster, longer steps - but that could just be so that he doesn’t fall too far behind Eren. Eren doesn’t mind, either, and he decides to help Levi out a little by slowing his walking. He likes being beside Levi. It makes it easier to hide his face and, every now and then, make sure that Levi hasn’t somehow disappeared.

            As they walk - Eren trying to make small talk every now and then, successfully, thanks to Levi’s inability to not make a comment about everything that falls from Eren’s lips - the streets get busier, the bustle of people rushing in and out of the mall flooding the air with noise. It’s unsurprisingly busy, being two days after Christmas.

            “Where are we going first?” Levi asks, glaring at everybody that passes by them.

            “The photobooth, obviously,” Eren says, “So we can get pictures for your necklace, _dummy._ ”

            Levi smirks, taking notice of the way that Eren’s turned his little nickname around so that it can be directed at him, and he averts his eyes from Eren’s face as the two of them enter one of the branches of the mall. It only occurs to Eren now just how cold it had been outside - for whatever reason, he didn’t even feel much discomfort from the weather. He’d been too busy blushing to notice that it must be well into the lower spectrum in terms of temperature.

            “Uh, you wouldn’t happen to know where we could find a photobooth?” Eren gives Levi a nervous look, trying to look innocent in order to avoid the wrath of the short guy - he’s _beyond_ capable of snapping Eren’s neck, he’d already nearly done so with his fingers.

            “ _Honestly_ , Eren? This was _your_ idea.”

            “Aha, um, sorry?”

            Levi doesn’t even look mad, though. He almost looks amused, and he drags Eren along, as they search for a place to take their pictures at.

                                                                                                             ~|~

            “I think they turned out nicely.”

            “They’d look even nicer if you actually _smiled._ ”

            Levi scowls at Eren’s comment, shoving the pictures into his hands. Eren laughs, taking a moment to look down at what they’d managed to take - it’s a series of four pictures, and in all of them, Levi looks nearly exactly the same. He hadn’t bothered to move even an inch from his “ _I’m-done-with-this-shit_ ” stance, his eyebrows emphasizing the loathing in his set face. Eren, on the other side of things, had tried to be a little creative - in one picture, he managed to press his cheek up to Levi’s - which made Eren blush furiously - while the ones after were just him making stupid faces. Rather ugly faces, at that, but considering that Levi can only fit one of these pictures in his locket, Eren just hopes that Levi goes for the cheek one.

            “Um, Levi?” Eren starts, handing the pictures back. Levi pulls out his wallet, folding the strip into little sections and shoving it inside. He puts the necklace in there, too, in the part of the wallet where his money sits. Eren hopes that the little act just means that he’s going to deal with it later, and not that he’s unappreciative of Eren’s gift.

            “Yes?”

            “Can you come with me to get a piercing?”

            “Hoh? You’re getting _another_ one?”

            Eren swallows roughly - maybe he shouldn’t have brought it up, if his suspicion from earlier about Levi not liking jewelry is true. If it _is,_ then he’s just digging his grave by asking Levi to accompany him for something like this.

            The way he says it lacks vile, but Levi’s sentence makes Eren’s chest hurt and his veins sting against his skin.  He _does_ want a piercing, very much so, but if Levi doesn’t want to be around for it, he could always come back later with Mikasa. She wouldn’t mind sitting there with him, and in fact, she’d probably rather be here than know that Levi - who is, essentially, a stranger - sat next to him through this.

            Eren, nervous, mutters, “Yeah. You don’t have to come with me if-”

            “I want to come.”

            “Ah? Wait, really?”

            “Yes. Where are you getting it?” Levi asks, gesturing to Eren’s body.

            Eren feels a weight lift off of his shoulders, only to be soon replaced with a hint of doubt. Levi _could_ be lying to him, but then again, why _would_ he? It’s not like they’ve been friends for centuries. Levi doesn’t have to stay with him.

            “My belly button,” Eren grins, emphasizing his point by lifting up his shirt a little.

            “Ah? _Ah,_ ” Levi’s eyes widen so slightly, “I see. And you want me to come with you when you get it?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Let’s go, then. Lead the way.”

            Eren’s tempted to throw his arms around Levi and give him a huge hug. Eren _needs_ someone to be there when he gets pierced, for no real reason other than him being a wimp when it comes to things like this. As much as he absolutely adores having jewelry inserted through his skin, he’s _not_ a fan of actually _getting_ the piercings. When he’d gotten his ears pierced, on the lobe, he’d nearly pissed himself - it was no better when he came back for his cartilage and eyebrow.

            Eren pulls Levi along, knowing the exact path to go. He’s been so many times, if not to actually receive a piercing than merely to watch other people freak out over theirs. It makes him feel a little better, knowing that he’s not the only person who sits in the chair squirming and nearly in tears as the person about to pierce his skin holds up the sharpest needle he’s ever seen in his entire life and positions it right next to him.

            “So why your belly button?” Levi asks, walking alongside Eren.

            “I don’t know. I thought it’d be cute.”

            “You’re not wrong,” Levi shrugs, “You’re cute, whether you have one or not, though.”

            “I- Hah?”

            Levi rolls his eyes, and while they aren’t holding hands anymore, it still feels like they are. Eren’s hand tingles, wanting to touch _some_ part of Levi - it’s like Levi’s burned into his flesh, leaving behind a series of palpitations in his heartbeat and a tremble in his limbs. Eren rolls his sleeves down over his fingers, needing something to grip onto while he bites his lip in an attempt to calm his nerves.

            Levi looks so calm, Eren’s a little envious. Actually, a _lot_ envious. He wishes to stand next to Levi and form a full sentence without hesitating after every other word, he wants to be able to do something with this guy without second guessing himself. And while it _does_ make him feel bad, that Levi’s clearly not as nervous as he is, it also makes him feel a bit _reassured,_ because Levi’s strong. Levi could be his bodyguard, though Eren would never tell him that the thought’s crossed his mind - to let Levi know that Eren wants him as such would be to ask Levi to punch him in the face.

            “Here we are,” Eren murmurs, stopping in his path next to a small shop. Levi halts next to him, nodding and motioning for Eren to enter ahead of him.

            Eren pushes through the glass door, Levi so close behind that Eren can practically feel his breath on the back of his neck. If he can even reach that high, that is.

            “Eren?” comes to familiar voice of Connie, walking up to him holding a piercing gun - Eren’s tempted to swat it away, he doesn’t like having to look at anything like _that_ more often than he really needs to. In fact, it’s why he closed his eyes when he got his earlobes pierced. Anything that has the word “ _gun_ ” in the name certainly doesn’t need to be so close to his skin and _pointed right at him,_ as Connie’s doing right now. “What is it, this time?”

            Connie looks up at Eren, his sleeves rolled up as far as they'll go. It shows off the tattoos that line his forearms, designs indistinguishable coating him in a series of greens and blues and reds and yellows. Connie's fairly attractive, if Eren may say so - Eren apparently has a thing for short men. The tattoos on Connie only make him that much more irresistible, and Eren _might_ have found himself wishing that he was destined to be with Connie a few times in the past.

            Those urges, though, have all been blown out the water now that Eren's met Levi. Sure, he still finds Connie to be a total hunk, but he's _nothing_ compared to the very incredibly handsome short man who stands just behind Eren.

            "Belly button," is all Eren says, placing a hand over his tummy as if that'll get the point further across.

            "Oh? _Oho,"_ Connie teases him, a smirk playing at his lips, "Was wondering how long it would take you until you got something a little sexy."

            "What, my other piercings aren't sexy?"

            "Hm. Mm. What about you, Mikasa?" Connie turns his head towards Levi, ignoring Eren's question. "Wait, did you get a haircut or something? You look a little different."

            "Um," Eren says quickly, "That- This isn't Mikasa, it's, uh, _Levi."_

            "Who?"

            "My friend."

            "Boyfriend?"

            " _Friend,_ " Eren corrects. Eren's not sure if his face can get any hotter.

            "Is he getting anything?" Connie asks, waving around his gun like it _doesn't_ have the ability to pierce holes in skin.

            "No," Levi answers, speaking for the first time since they've entered the shop. "Just here for Eren."

            "Cool. Follow me, then, babe," Connie says with a look to Eren, and with a spring in his step, he takes Eren and Levi to a backroom with a black chair in it. Its walls are a pristine white, contrasting the dull blue of the tiled flooring. The chair itself looks much like a dentist’s chair, a long cushion on metal stands. There's a shelf nearby, and on it are rows of jewelry and inks.

            Eren glances over at Levi, who couldn't _possibly_ look any more _bored_ with life. He meets eyes with Eren, furrowing his eyebrows briefly before going back to glaring at Connie. He's not even trying to _hide_ the fact that he peers over at the boy with a glint in his expression.

            "Have a seat," Connie says with a pat on the black cushion, "Sit that sweet ass down."

            Eren, with one more glance at Levi - who looks like he's one second away from foaming at the mouth - walks over and places himself in the chair, legs hanging down and back lying relatively flat.

            "Are you sure you want this, Eren?" Connie asks, "It hurts. Like a bitch."

            "On a scale of one to ten, what is it?"

            "Like a thirteen."

            " _Connie_ ," Eren barks with an anxious smile on his lips, "Don't _say_ things like that."

            "You want me to lie to you?"

            " _I_ think," Levi chimes in, coming closer to Eren until he's right beside his chair, "You should just shut up and give him the piercing."

            "Ouch," Connie winces with a sneer, "Vicious. You can pay me for this whenever we finish, 'kay Eren?"

            "Okay."

            Connie removes himself from near Eren to go over to the nearby shelf, messing around with the trinkets laid about. Eren looks away, fearing the moment when Connie will pull out the dreaded weapon used to pierce Eren's rather sensitive tummy flab.

            Eren stares up at Levi, who returns his gaze with a sort of fondness that was absent in his eyes when Eren saw him glaring at Connie. Levi's hand lies on the armrest of Eren's seat, so Eren, with a shaking in his lower lip, wraps his fingers around Levi's wrist and smiles up at him. Levi seems to understand - Eren's looking for comfort, so Levi provides him with just that, placing his other hand over Eren's fingers. He sandwiches Eren's limb between his hands, his fingers cold but all the same so warming.

            "How do you feel?" Levi asks, his voice soft and low.

            "Sick."

            "Nervous?"

            "Mhm."

            "Look at it this way," Levi says, tracing over the bones of Eren's hand, "You'll look _so_ cute once this is all over. Even cuter than you already are."

            "You think I'm cute?"

            " _Adorable._ I _did_ say you were beautiful, didn't I?"

            "I guess," Eren gives a slight shrug, still peering up at Levi. Eren lies back, his head thrown to the side as he lazily stares into Levi's silver eyes. He likes Levi's eyes, the way that Eren can look into them and see himself be reflected back, the way that his own eyes blend into a unique color in the vision shown through Levi's irises. Eren's thankful that Levi doesn't seem to mind staring at Eren, but at the same time, it's so _unnerving,_ having someone so handsome and so intimidating watch him so intently.

            "Alrighty," Connie says from where he stands at the side of the room, "I need you to actually listen to me for once, Eren. Like, follow my instructions. Or else you'll end up in the hospital."

            "What, really?"

            "No, I'm made of crap," Connie rolls his eyes, " _Yes,_ I'm being serious."

            “You're full of shit, regardless," Levi mutters, focusing his sight on Eren's belly as Eren lifts his shirt up, stopping the sweater just below his chest. Eren can't see his stomach with the way he lies, but hopefully it doesn't look _too_ bad, what with the way he's pressed flat to the seat.

            Connie doesn't say anything to Levi, choosing instead to get right to business with Eren. He walks over to him, holding a Q-tip in one hand and a cloth in the other. "This is gonna tickle, babe, but try not to move too much."

            "Why do you call him that?" Levi asks, and Eren looks over to see that Levi's face is absolutely _murderous._

            "Call him what?"

            " _Babe._ "

            "Oh," Connie's face is painted with a subtle smirk, "I call all of my patients that. 'Cause they're all babes, yeah? Why's it matter to you?"

            "It's disgusting," Levi scoffs, "Disrespectful."

            "And what would you know, old man? You look like you're in your thirties. Slow your breathing, Eren."

            Levi's hold on Eren's hand tightens, and Eren can tell that Levi's just _dying_ to spit fire back at Connie. He keeps his mouth shut, however, with a quick look at Eren's face. Eren can practically see the anger building in Levi.

            Eren shuts his eyes, trying his best to breathe as slowly and as carefully as possible. It _does_ tickle, when he feels the damp cotton swab brush over the skin by his belly button. The towel, too - it takes Connie a good minute of cleaning before he seems to be pleased by the results, and by then, Eren's belly button already feels like it's been rubbed raw from the scrubbing.

            "Okie," Connie murmurs, his voice distant - he must be back at his shelf, likely looking for the needle that'll potentially tear Eren's stomach apart.

            "You're okay?" Eren hears Levi ask, his voice a lot closer than Connie's.

            "Yeah," Eren says, "I'm fine."

            "Really?"

            "No."

            Eren feels Levi remove one of his hands - the one that's around his wrist - and it's soon placed on Eren's neck, massaging his collarbones. Levi whispers something, but Eren can't hear it over the sound of his heart beating into his ears.

            "Right, _babe_ ," comes the _much_ louder voice of Connie, now right above Eren rather than at a distance, "What I need you to do, is breathe _in_ deep and hold it for a few seconds, 'kay?"

            Eren nods, eyes still shut as he opens his mouth and sucks in a breath. He feels Connie's hands on him, they're warm and covered in rubber - he must be wearing gloves. Something strikingly _cold_ pokes at his navel as Eren slowly releases his breath, teeth chattering as the thing irritates his rubbed skin.

            "Wh- What're you doing?" Eren gasps, unable to bring himself to open his eyes and look. If he does, he's almost certain that he'll book it and scramble towards the nearest exit.

            "Just marking your skin, Eren. With a marker, yeah?" Connie says, his index and middle finger pressing hard onto Eren's stomach.

            " _Oh._ "

            Levi's thumb runs over Eren's chin, attempting to soothe him. Eren wants to thank Levi for it, but his throat feels impossibly dry. Eren can't see his face, but he hopes that maybe Levi's not upset with him for any reason. There isn't any _reason_ forhim to be mad, but Eren's a little paranoid when it comes to Levi.

            "This _might_ feel a little uncomfortable," Connie warns, "Just gonna clamp it."

            " _Clamp_ it? What does that mean?" Eren asks. Levi continues to stroke his skin, over his neck and below his chin. Eren almost swears he hears him chuckle above him.

            "Just putting the skin together. So that I can jam the needle in," Connie explains.

            " _Jam_ it in?"

            "Be a man, Eren," Connie teases. Something presses to the skin just above Eren's belly button, pinching his stomach in such a way that doesn't necessarily _hurt,_ but certainly feels a lot more uncomfortable than Eren would like.

            Connie shifts the metal clamp that's holding onto Eren's skin, positioning it just right. Eren digs his nails into Levi's hand, preparing for the hell that awaits him.

            "Ready, Eren?" Connie asks, "One. Two. Three-"

            Eren moans as a sharp needle slides through his stomach, fast but _definitely_ painful. It's even worse than the shots that he gets when he visits a doctor - it only makes it _slightly_ better knowing that he'll be able to put jewelry in this hole eventually.

            Connie lets out a victory cheer, and Eren opens his eyes. He tries to sit up and look down at his navel, but Connie pushes him back down, telling him he has to put the final touches on it.

            Levi has a half-smile - and that’s being generous, because it’s really more like only a quarter of a smile - on his face, which is enough for Eren. As soon as Connie finishes up with his belly button, he's going to give Levi the hug of a lifetime. Though his navel still stings a bit, it feels like a weight's been lifted off of Eren's shoulders.

            Connie whirls around, scrambling around through his materials until he pulls out another Q-tip and a bottle.

            "How do I look?" Eren asks as Connie goes to work, cleaning up the new piercing and wiping the marker from Eren's skin.

            "Fa-"

            " _Beautiful,_ " Levi interrupts Connie, with a reassuring squeeze of Eren's shoulder. Eren leans forward, moving onto his elbows.

            " _Right,_ " Connie gives Eren a slightly confused look, standing back. "'Ya done, babe. Can I have my money, now?"

            Eren shoves his hand in his back pocket, pulling out the money and holding it up to taunt Connie with. He’d managed to squeeze his phone in his other pocket earlier, but it digs into his rear rather uncomfortably. "How much?"

            "Lucky day, Eren," Connie says, eyeing the wad of cash, "I'll only charge forty."

            "Forty cents, right?"

            "Dollars."

            Eren blinks, his eyebrows knitting together. "But, I-"

            "I'll pay," Levi chimes in, noticing the immediate fall of Eren’s face, "Don't worry about it."

            Eren looks up at Levi. Levi looks back at him.

            Eren sincerely hopes that he's found his soulmate.

                                                                                                             ~|~

            "I don't like that guy," Levi says as he walks beside Eren, eyes skimming the mall around them.

            "What guy?" Eren asks, holding up the bottom of his sweater, tentatively. He fears so much as _touching_ his new piercing, let alone have his shirt make contact with it. The skin around the placeholder jewelry is a light pink, raw from all of the rubbing that Connie did to it.

            "What was his name?" Levi mutters, "Connor? Something _stupid_ like that."

            Eren gives Levi an offended look, saying, “Connie’s not a bad guy.”

            “Really?” Levi raises an eyebrow with a curl in his lip, “You think so?”

            “Yeah,” Eren says, “He always does my piercings. He’s funny.”

            Levi gives a little shake of his head, clearly in disagreement with Eren. Eren’s not too sure exactly what the issue is, though - Levi _did_ look mad at Connie the entire time that Eren was getting his piercing, but why should he be so upset? Eren has his suspicions, but everything about their situation is so confusing - Levi called him _beautiful_ and made it a point to say how cute he was, but they’ve never truly established themselves as anything more than friends. They didn’t have time to - they’ve known each other for, what, three days?

            “Hey, Levi?” Eren starts, his gut begging him to ask Levi whether they’re dating now or not.

            “Yes, Eren?”

            Then again, Levi also didn’t bother to correct Eren when he made it clear to Connie that he and Levi were just _friends._

            “Nevermind.”

            “Eren?”

            “Wanna go get something to eat?” Eren offers, trying to look busy by working to tie the hem of his shirt so that it’ll stay up like a crop top without him having to keep his hands around it. He’s getting _plenty_ of odd looks from people passing by, but he doesn’t even mind - he’s too preoccupied focusing on _Levi_ and _why is Levi looking at him like that?_

            “I suppose,” Levi sighs, resigning. “Are you sure you should be eating right after having a needle stuck through your body, though?”

            “Ah. Oh. I guess you have a point,” Eren looks down, eyeing the silver accessory perched just above his navel. It’s plain, a silver ball on the end of a rod. “Maybe we should buy some rings? For when I can switch this one out?”

            “Why didn’t you do that when we were, you know, _at the piercing parlor?_ ”

            “I didn’t think of it.”

            Levi glares at him, pursing his lips together.

            “Um, well,” Eren holds up a hand defensively, his shirt actually staying up from the tying that he’s done to it, “We, ah, could always go to a different place to buy the stuff, yeah? Since you don’t like Connie.”

            “That sounds nice,” Levi looks ahead of himself, tearing his eyes from Eren for once in his life.

            “Will you help me?”

            “Help you what?”

            “Pick out jewelry,” Eren says, nudging Levi’s shoulder with a poke.

            Levi pauses for a moment, but he then nods, with a, “If you really want me to.”

            “Really?”

            “Yes. If you promise that I can take you home with me after this.”

            Despite Eren’s eyes widening to the point where he should be able to see _more_ than clearly, he nearly trips over himself, his foot hitting his ankle at an awkward angle as he chokes on his own breath. He stumbles forward a step, but he recovers quickly, straightening himself back out and proceeding as if nothing had just happened. “What do you mean?”

            “I want to take you home,” Levi repeats. “To my house.”

            “For sex?”

            Levi draws his lips into a thin line, not looking over at Eren. He waits an eternity - if a minute can be considered an eternity - before shrugging and saying, “Well, personally, I was thinking more along the lines of a nice dinner and maybe a movie, but if you really want to fuck me, we could do that too.”

            “Hah? I- I, no, wait-”

            “ _Ah_ , you’re right, too early, isn’t it?” Levi smirks, “Besides, we all know it would be _I_ who fucks _you._ ”

            “ _Excuse me?_ ”

            “Let’s go, Eren. Before they sell out of jewelry.”

                                                                                                             ~|~

            Eren sits down in Levi’s dining room, admiring his collection of newly-bought jewelry. Although Levi had helped him out by paying for his piercing, he was a bit more reluctant to donate a ton of money for Eren to buy actual _accessories._ But that _could_ just be because Eren kept bringing him a lot of tacky rings with charms on the ends.

            Levi left to go to his kitchen - apparently, he’d been absolutely truthful when he told Eren that he wanted to make him dinner and see a movie. Eren’s still a little reluctant to eat, seeing as how his belly feels weird from the piercing, and it really doesn’t help that his tummy bunches into rolls when he sits slumped over as he _likes_ to do, causing the ring to jab painfully against his body. Right now, he sits as straight as he can, fingers aimlessly poking at what accessories he _did_ manage to buy.

            Eren didn’t really doubt Levi, when he told Eren that he wanted to make him a meal and sit with him for a show. Levi’s been _nothing_ but truthful thus far, and kind, too. Kind, in an unconventional way - although he’d gone out of his way to insult one of Eren’s closest friends, he _does_ treat Eren as if Eren were royalty, what with how he pays for Eren’s things and how he treats him to the finer things of life, like _dinner._

            Eren tries to straighten his clothing really quickly, attempting to look as nice as he can. Albeit, he likely still looks ridiculous with the way that his shirt is pulled up - he’d nearly frozen to death on his way over to Levi’s abode, if it weren’t for the fact that Levi was so generous as to wrap a clothed arm around Eren’s waist and rub up and down his back - but if the rest of himself looks nice, perhaps he could bring himself to call this a _date._

            Eren’s as nervous as ever, but for some reason, he feels _less_ anxious than normal, when he’s in here, in Levi’s home. Something about it is so consoling; it’s like having a giant pair of Levi’s arms around him at every corner. The air is chilly, and it smells incredibly of Windex, but Eren _loves_ it.

            Even though he’s only known Levi for so long, he feels like he loves _him,_ too. He hadn’t noticed it, until he met Levi, but all his life he’s felt a little empty inside. Levi fills that space with his snarky comments and anger towards everyone who comes around Eren. It’s unexplainable, but while his shoulders ache around Levi and while he trips over himself, he absolutely never wants to be apart from this very incredibly handsome short man ever again.

            As much as Eren would hate to tell Mikasa about Levi until he’s absolutely _certain_ that he’s the one, Eren’s made it up in his head that he’ll mention Levi to her once he gets home. It shouldn’t go over _too_ horribly - she might threaten to dropkick Levi, but Eren’s going to be careful not to mention what Levi looks like, so she’ll have no way of actually going through with her ideas. He wants someone to confide in, someone who isn’t _Connie -_ as much as Eren loves Connie, he really isn’t the right person to go to for something like this.

            All Eren wants to know is if he’s meant to be with Levi. That’s all. He wants to know if these aches in his chest are normal, if the stumbling, the stuttering, the rapid heartbeat are _normal_ \- Eren wants to make sure that he’s not just going crazy.

            There’s a part of him that is absolutely _certain_ that Levi’s the man for him. But Eren’s never felt this way before, and who knows? Levi might not feel the same way. Sure, he admitted that his chest hurt much like Eren’s did a day or two ago, but that doesn’t mean anything. He didn’t say, “ _Oh, Eren, my heart races when I’m around you and I sweat enough water to flood the oceans, my throat gets dry and my legs shake when you’re near._ ” No, all he said was that his chest hurt. And he only said that because Eren asked.

            Eren’s not sure if he can handle all of this. Sure, he’s eighteen years old, but he feels too _young_ to be experiencing all of this - the sudden fatigue when Levi leaves the room, the emotions that fill every inch of his body when Levi’s around. He can’t do this. He hasn’t had enough experience in life, he doesn’t know what true _love_ feels like versus a mere crush.

            And what if Levi _does_ expect to get Eren in bed with him? Eren can’t agree to that. Not until he’s absolutely _positive_ that he belongs to Levi. He wants to save his purity for someone who won’t end up leaving him after this is all over.

            Eren wants someone to love him _forever._ Not just one measly night, after winning Eren over with a homecooked meal and a shitty movie.

            Levi has an odd sort of trustworthiness to him, though, which is what’s keeping Eren from jumping through the window and making a break for it. He has a feeling that Levi won’t do anything to him if he says no, but Eren _could_ be making a grave mistake by thinking that.

            He chooses to stay, ultimately. He can’t bring himself to leave. A part of him already loves Levi too much.

            “Ah, Eren?” Levi says, pushing his way through the door separating what must be Levi’s kitchen and his dining room. “You’re not opposed to eating, uh, toast, are you?”

            “Huh?”

            Levi blinks for a moment, leaning against the doorframe. He admits, “I don’t know how to cook.”

            Eren’s not sure whether he should laugh or not. Levi looks _genuinely upset_ over the fact that he can’t cook, and while his distraught eyes make Eren’s stomach twist in the worst way possible, it’s actually really attractive, how his eyebrows are furrowed as if he’s just admitted to killing a man.

            “You, uh, you can’t cook?”

            “No,” Levi confirms.

            “But- You’re old, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you have had plenty of time to learn?”

            Levi scowls. “Thirty-seven years, in fact. Doesn’t mean shit.”

            Eren gives a shy smile, suppressing his laughter so that he won’t anger Levi. “Do you want _me_ to make dinner?”

            “No.”

            “Are you _sure?_ ”

            “Shut up, kid.”

            “Can you _really_ call me a kid?” Eren’s grin grows wider, “We’re _technically_ the same age.”

            “Technically? Yes,” Levi gives a slight nod, “But at the same time, no. You know?”

            Eren stands up, unable to stop smiling. It hurts his jaw, with how much he’s blushing and how much his mouth is straining, trying so hard _not_ to stay upturned, but it being physically impossible for him to calm himself.

            “I’ll make you something nice, Levi.”

            “Are you sure?” Levi sounds uncertain, “I mean, with your new piercing.”

            “It won’t kill me to _prepare a meal,_ ” Eren dismisses, “Just, if I catch on fire, will you at least extinguish it?”

            “I will.”

            Eren, _still_ smiling, though biting his lip now as an attempt to calm his beating heart, sidesteps Levi on his way into the kitchen. Eren starts searching through the cabinets, crouching down onto his haunches and then jumping back up as he goes from place to place admiring Levi’s admittedly limited selection of food.

            Levi stands by, arms crossed as he watches Eren go about his business. He doesn’t look angry - rather, just indifferent. It’s uncomfortable, though, for Eren to sit under his intense gaze like so. Eren peers over at him - Levi doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he’s staring.

            “Do you, uh, want me to teach you how to cook?” Eren asks, a little pathetically, using hand motions to emphasize his point.

            “No.”

            “Uh- Oh. Okay. Then, um, do you want to go sit in the dining room?”

            “No.”

            “Hah.”

            Levi shakes his head for just a brief moment. “I think you’re _really_ cute, Eren.”

            “What?”

            “You’re cute.”

            “ _What?_ ”

            “You. Are. Cute. Have you gone deaf?”

            Eren might need Levi to hold up to his promise of smothering out a fire, because if Eren’s face gets any hotter, he’s going to need to be doused with water. “Cute?”

            “ _Cute._ Are you stupid, too? Do I need to _define_ the word for you?”

            Even though Levi’s essentially just insulted Eren twice in a row, Eren can’t help himself when he asks, “Can I hug you, Levi?”

            “Hoh?” Levi seems a little thrown off, but he’s not _upset._ “Ah, _yes._ ”

            Eren forces his legs to move forward, and he nearly collapses onto Levi, dropping his entire weight on Levi’s shoulders as he wraps his arms around him. Levi’s hands go to his waist, one just above his hips and one a little higher up, beside his stomach. Eren’s careful to leave _just_ enough distance that his belly button isn’t pressed to Levi’s top.

            “Levi?” Eren starts, before he can stop himself.

            “Hm?”

            “Do you think that we could be soulmates?”

            Levi takes in a deep breath before saying, “I do.”

            “Really?”

            “ _Absolutely_.”

            Eren can’t see Levi’s face from the way that he stands, his head over Levi’s shoulder and peering down at the floor behind him, but Levi’s face is burned into Eren’s memory. No matter what he does, Eren can’t rid himself of the thoughts of Levi - they’re always there, whether he’s right in front of the guy searching for a meal to cook or whether he’s in the room over, sitting up straight at a dining table while his belly piercing heals.

            Eren feels drawn to Levi in a sort of way that he’s not drawn to anybody else. Even as he does little more than squeeze his arms tighter around Levi’s neck and rest his head against Levi’s, he can’t forget what Levi looks like and what he sounds like. His fingers burn into Eren’s flesh and it leaves him lightheaded, desperate for more touching and more talking and just more _Levi_ overall.

            “When’s your birthday, Eren?” Levi suddenly asks.

            “March, why?”

            “Just curious.”

            “Oh,” Eren pulls away so that he can look down at Levi, “When’s _your_ birthday?”

            “It was on Christmas.”

            “So- Wait, _what?_ ” Eren exclaims, “Oh my _god,_ Levi, I need to get you a present-”

            “No, you don’t.”

            “Yes, I do! I _have_ to-”

            “Ah,” Levi sighs, “No, Eren. You already gave me a necklace. And you’re making it up to me right now, aren’t you? By preparing a dinner.”

            “ _You’re right,_ ” Eren gasps, releasing his hold on Levi and scrambling towards the cabinets again. He halts just as he reaches them and he turns around to say, “Levi?”

            “Yes?”

            “We met on Christmas, didn’t we?”

            “We did.”

            “Do _you_ feel older? Like, a _lot_ older? Like, you could be _nineteen_ years old instead of eighteen?”

            Levi doesn’t respond immediately. He focuses all of his attention on Eren, squinting his already fairly narrowed eyes for a second before saying, “I do.”

            Even though Eren hasn’t had his birthday yet, he, too, feels older. Not significantly, but slightly, in how some of his muscles ache and how he finds it hard to move sometimes. But that could just be a side-effect of-

            “Now make me something to eat, dummy,” Levi smirks, with a slight tilt in his stance.

            Eren’s in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> White hair IS attractive! Just look at Kaneki Ken.


	3. Chapter 3

                “So, Hanji,” Levi says, standing by her as she takes just a _little_ too long to decide on what coffee she wants, “This whole _soulmate_ thing.”

                “Oh? Have you found the one?” she says, glancing over at Levi only for a moment. They’re in the breakroom of their office building, alone with the exception of some tall weirdo who keeps sniffing the plastic cups set by the coffee machine.

                Levi ignores her question. “How do you know if you’ve found your soulmate?”

                Hanji’s face morphs immediately at his question, as if it’s _just now_ settling in that this is the topic of conversation. “ _Levi!_ Well, obviously there’s the whole growing-older thing but- Can I check your hair? Do you have any white hairs, Levi? It should be easy to find, your hair’s so dark-”

                Levi swats Hanji’s hand away from where she was trying to reach over and hunt through Levi’s head like it’s a cornfield. He very much doesn’t need her teasing - and, besides, if he let her look at his head, she’d find quite a _few_ fading hairs, in fact. They’re all towards the bottom of his haircut, but they’re still _there._ Not that Levi’s spent the past month looking for them, though.

                It’s been a whole month since Levi met Eren, and he hasn’t let a single opportunity to be by his side slip away. He’s managed to take him out places, buy him nice things, and he _did_ get around to putting their photobooth pictures in his locket. He’d cut them in such a way that all four pictures could squeeze into the necklace, though he wears it under his shirt so that prying eyes - ahem, _Hanji_ \- won’t notice it and try to rip it from his throat to see the little Aphrodite he’s been hiding away from her.

                Eren, on the other hand, has kept up his part of the relationship as well - he makes Levi meals when he’s around, he gives him hugs when he says hello, and, really, just his presence is enough for Levi. His clumsiness, his golden eyes, his soft hair, his nervousness, his _desirable_ legs, his beddable hips - all of that and more makes up for any kindness that Levi has granted upon Eren.

                Every now and then, the two of them sit together and talk about whether or not they feel older. Levi can practically feel himself dwindling away - every day there’s a new sign, a new white hair, a new muscle ache, a new crack in his joints. Eren’s a little slower - the only things that he’s noticed are a soreness in his shoulders and an increase in his crankiness in the early mornings. But, of course, it’s not _Eren_ who admitted to being cranky. Levi sort of had to find out on his own via Eren going from waking up next to him cuddled around him like a teddy bear versus, most recently, Levi woke up to see Eren hunched over the end of the bed with bags under his eyes and a disdain for so much as saying hello.

                Levi only sleeps with Eren when Eren stays over at his house, which is actually fairly often. Levi’s just surprised that Mikasa - whom Levi hasn’t actually met yet but has heard a few too many stories about - hasn’t threatened him over it yet, she seems like the type, if Eren’s word is anything to go by.

                Eren and Levi haven’t done anything explicit yet, in terms of sleeping together, but Levi’s fine with that. Eren’s more than just pleasing to the eyes. He’s, admittedly, somewhat funny in how he likes to flaunt every piercing he has and how he has a nearly nonexistent brain-to-mouth filter. Sometimes it’s infuriating, but Levi can’t bring himself to be mad at Eren for more than two minutes at a time.

                It’s late January now, almost February. Eren’s birthday is still a good month away, and _no, Levi certainly doesn’t have it marked on his calendar and is already planning what gift he’ll get him._

                “No touching,” he scolds Hanji like a disobedient puppy, in reference to her attempting to search his hair for whiting, “Just tell me the signs.”

                “Well,” Hanji starts, holding up her hand to guide her in collecting her thoughts, “You kind of just _feel_ it, yeah?”

                “You just _feel_ it,” Levi repeats, unentertained. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

                “Hey, _I_ didn’t make the rules,” Hanji defends herself, “But, Levi, I thought you didn’t care about any of this stuff.”

                “I don’t.”

                “Then why are you-?”

                “None of your business, Shit Glasses.”

                “I wish you would be a little more open with me,” Hanji sighs, a sad look on her usually impossibly happy face, “I _am_ going to have to meet her eventually, you know.”

                “ _Her?_ ”

                “Yeah,” she says, “You know, the person you have your eye on.”

                Levi sends her a dirty glare, but she’s gone back to focusing on picking out a drink to start the morning off with. His face relaxes a bit, seeing that her eyes aren’t on him, but the frustration is still there, building in his chest.

                “Not a _her._ ”

                “Oh?” she smiles again, a knowing shine in her gaze, “So there _is_ someone.”

                “I’m leaving, Hanji,” Levi states, heading away from her - he’s not even sure where he’s going, but if it means that he doesn’t have to put up with her pestering, he’ll go wherever this path leads. Hanji lets him go, surprisingly - she either understands that Levi needs his time to sort everything out, or she’s just _really_ intent on getting the perfect cup of coffee brewed before she deals with anything else.

                Eren’s _different._ Levi’s never felt this way about someone before, not even with Petra - he’s never wanted to tell everyone about her, he’s never wanted to buy her _navel jewelry,_ and he’s never even _thought_ about what it would feel like to have her make him food every night. There’s something about Eren that makes Levi want to make sure that he’s happy at all hours of the day, that makes a part of Levi feel utterly _empty_ when he’s not around, that makes his heart pound a little faster when he so much as just _thinks_ about Eren.

                How could Levi have ever gone through life without this sort of pleasure? He can’t remember what it feels like, even though he’s lived nearly thirty years of it, to live each day without _Eren_ on his mind.

                Eren’s so _perfect._ He has an impossible amount of flaws - his inability to stay upright for more than three seconds, his innate ability to blush at every word Levi utters, his _disgusting_ method of shoveling food down his throat - but, for some reason, Levi couldn’t imagine an Eren _without_ those issues. An Eren that doesn’t fret over which earrings he should wear to the bathroom isn’t _Eren._ The Eren who doesn’t stop to admire every puppy on the street _isn’t Eren._

Levi loves Eren the way he is. He loves the scruffy hair, the small smiles, the way that Eren _always_ hugs Levi around the shoulders rather than at the waist - Levi loves it. He loves _Eren._

                And, by the way that he acts, Levi’s positive that Eren loves him, too. If not just because Eren always says it before snuggling up next to him on the floor at night, then because Eren _stays_ with him through everything. If Eren didn’t return _some_ feelings, he would’ve left as soon as he could, wouldn’t he have?

                Eren deserves a cake. And if Levi had any clue about how to bake, he’d make him one.

                Maybe he’ll just have to settle on buying Eren a new set of earrings before he sees him again.

                                                                                                             ~|~

                Mikasa saunters down the stairs, her face neutral as she glances over at Eren, who sits behind the front counter, spinning around in his chair as he stares blankly at the ceiling.

                “Something wrong, Eren?” she asks, looking to see if anyone else is around.

                “Nuh-uh.”

                “Bored?”

                “Yeah.”

                “When’s your boyfriend coming over?” Mikasa props her leg up next to Eren, motioning for him to tie her laces for her.

                “Not until, like, five or six tonight.”

                Eren sets to work, tying up her shoes. She’s worn her knee-high boots once again, which take at _least_ forever to lace up properly. Even she, herself, has gotten tired of doing so, which is why she now gets Eren to tie her shoes for her whenever she can.

                “I see,” Mikasa says, “Why does he always wait until so late to come around? I _would_ like to meet him, eventually.”

                “You’ll meet him on the wedding day.”

                Mikasa narrows her eyes at him, but she snickers. “Maybe I should skip taekwondo tonight and see him.”

                “Mm. No,” Eren says, furrowing his eyebrows as he works to finish up Mikasa’s laces.

                “No?” Mikasa says with slight surprise, “Why not? I can afford to miss a lesson.”

                “It’s not that,” Eren mutters. And it’s not - truthfully, there’s no _good_ reason for Mikasa not to have met Levi. In fact, Eren almost _wants_ her to, because Mikasa’s fairly good at judging people. She could tell Eren whether Levi truly loves him or not. Eren doesn’t really _doubt_ that Levi likes him, but a second opinion couldn’t hurt. “I just like being alone with him, you know?”

                Mikasa nods, a smile tugging at her lips. “I understand. How about this? I only stick around for thirty minutes, then I’ll leave you two to yourselves.”

                “I like that idea,” Eren murmurs, finally done tying one of Mikasa’s shoes. She shifts, now expecting Eren to tie up her other boot.

                “Just don’t do anything inappropriate after I leave, okay?” she crosses her arms over her stomach, “I’d rather not come home to anything that’ll, um, _scar_ me.”

                Eren sticks his tongue out at her, knitting his eyebrows together. He and Levi haven’t done anything like _that._ Eren made it fairly clear that he doesn’t want to do anything sexual until he’s ready. And Levi respects that decision - the most graphic thing that they’ve done in their whole month of being together is sit on each other’s laps, and even then, all that arose from that was Eren falling asleep on Levi. And maybe a boner or two from Levi, but Eren’s not about to tell him that he’s noticed.

                Most of their meetings have been at Levi’s house, hence why Mikasa hasn’t been able to sit down and talk to Levi. Eren mentioned Levi to Mikasa about a week after he’d gotten his belly button pierced - which, he’s still wary to touch, but he _does_ wear his shirts down now - and Mikasa had taken the news surprisingly well. Eren would’ve thought that she’d be upset, but she was the exact opposite - she was _happy_ for him, in fact. Although she _does_ go out of her way as often as possible to tease Eren about his new boyfriend.

                “I promise we won’t do anything,” Eren says with a hand over his heart, pledging an oath.

                “Good.”

                Mikasa steps away from Eren, briefly admiring the handiwork of her laces. She seems to approve, as she sets to work doing other business, walking over to a shelf and straightening the items laid about on it.

                Eren eyes the snow globe that lies nearby - it’s set next to the cash register. He’d moved it from his room about a week ago, wanting a subtle way to show off to everyone what Levi does for him. A subtle way to show everyone that Levi belongs to him, that Levi _loves_ him and got him a little present. He’d admitted, late at night once, that he didn’t actually _buy_ the snow globe, but Eren doesn’t care. The fact that it’s _his_ now, and he gets to keep it, and every time he looks at it, he remembers Levi - _that’s_ what matters most.

                Levi wears Eren’s gift, as well - Eren’s noticed the chain around his neck. He hadn’t thought that Levi would actually use it, after that day when he’d gotten his navel pierced. Levi didn’t seem like someone who’d wear a ton of jewelry. He hadn’t a single piercing, he didn’t even wear bracelets or rings or anything of that nature. But he wears Eren’s necklace. It’s always tucked under his shirt, but it’s _there._ Next to his heart.

                Even if Levi _didn’t_ silently appreciate Eren’s gift, Eren couldn’t be mad at him. He’d understand, in fact, and if he didn’t, he’d _try_ to understand. It’s a cheap present, and  Eren’s almost surprised that it hasn’t broken yet. Levi’s gift to him is, admittedly, just as cheap - Eren didn’t notice until much later, but there are _fifty other snow globes just like the one Levi gave him_ at the back of the shop - but to Eren, it might as well be worth a million dollars. He’d probably break down crying if something happened to his little snow globe. He even makes sure to dust it every morning, to keep it in top shape. The other snow globes might as well be shit, compared to the one that Levi gave him.

                “Eren?” Mikasa calls from where she stands, inspecting a bottle that had been on a shelf, “Make sure to dress _nicely._ ”

                “I _am_ dressed nicely.”

                Mikasa gives him a look, and Eren glances down - his shirt’s the usual, long sleeves that cover his hands and hem that falls just below his hips. And if he were wearing pants, he’s certain that they’d look just as fine.

                “Nobody’s going to see my legs, so why does it matter?” Eren tries to defend himself, setting his elbows on the counter in front of himself. In all honesty, it’s likely that _everyone_ can see his legs. His boxers are short and are _very clearly_ underwear, and his legs are a bright, tan color, contrasting the white of the floors and tables. But Eren chooses to ignore that fact.

                “ _Eren._ ”

                “What?”

                “ _I_ don’t want to see your legs.”

                “Then don’t look at them.”

                “It’s indecent exposure.”

                “That’s why I’m behind the counter,” Eren says, rolling his eyes, “Nobody will see me back here.”

                “They will if they’re tall enough.”

                Eren groans, but he resigns, tired of trying to reason with her. He drags himself out of his seat and walks the few steps towards the staircase, traipsing himself to his bedroom.

                Mikasa’s right, though. She usually - _always_ \- is. Eren’s going to have to dress himself sooner or later, if not for himself than for Levi. Eren’s not too sure that Levi would mind seeing his legs, but Eren would rather have Levi’s eyes glued to his face and not his ass while Mikasa’s around.

                Eren loves Levi. A lot more than he really should, too, having only known him for one month. But as more time passes, the more certain Eren becomes - Levi _has_ to be the one for him. There’s no other explanation for why Eren feels _so much_ for Levi. There’s no other explanation for why he blushes every time his name is mentioned, or why his fingers shake at the very thought of him, or why he listens so intently to every word that Levi murmurs, hanging onto his voice for dear life.

                Any sort of lust that Eren’s felt towards Connie, or, really, _anyone,_ pales in comparison to the way he feels about Levi.

                Levi’s perfect. He’s, truthfully, _far_ from so, what with the way he gets so obviously jealous when someone _dares_ to look at Eren and how he rarely gives Eren a full smile, but he’s _so perfect,_ in how he combs his fingers through Eren’s hair when they’re close together and how he never misses an opportunity to kiss Eren’s forehead.

                They haven’t had an _actual_ kiss, on the lips, yet - Eren’s been too nervous to try, and Levi seems perfectly content with pecking Eren everywhere _except_ his mouth.

                Eren’s fine with that. He _is._ Absolutely. Sure, it _would_ be nice to feel Levi’s soft lips, and maybe taste his tongue against the inside of his cheek, but if Levi doesn’t want to kiss him, Eren couldn’t blame him. Eren doesn’t even remember to brush his teeth half the time - he wakes up _way_ too early to be concerned with anything other than not falling back asleep - so why _would_ Levi want to kiss him?

                Eren, admittedly, _does_ very much want to try kissing Levi. And maybe he will, eventually.

                                                                                                             ~|~

                Levi wraps an arm over Eren’s body, pulling him closer to his chest. Eren’s breaths are heavy, not from sleeping, though - his face is now stuffed by Levi’s shirt, nose right between both of Levi’s breasts and mouth parted to help him intake air.

                They’re lying on Eren’s bed, a small twin bed in the corner of his considerably small room. They’ve pushed the blankets to the floor, leaving only the pillows still on the mattress, and they, as well, have shed themselves of much of their clothing. Eren lies by Levi in only his boxers and, of course, the rings in his ears and belly. Levi, similarly, is wearing only a shirt and his underwear - their clothing is tossed aside, lost somewhere in the mountains of covers that lie forgotten on the floor. Levi’s not really one for a lot of disorganization, but he’s willing to put his own feelings in the background if it means that Eren can stay snuggled up to him like this for a little longer.

                Levi had arrived at Eren’s house about an hour ago, and Eren was the one who instigated all of this - _he_ was the one who dragged Levi upstairs, _he_ was the one who forced Levi to unbutton his shirt and lie down. And Levi didn’t fight it, when Eren decided to take his _own_ top and bottom off, because Eren’s body is nothing if not gloriously addicting.

                Today marks officially three months since they first met - Eren’s birthday is in five days, and thus far, Levi’s still at a loss as to what he should get him. Levi met Eren’s sister, Mikasa, in January - which, Mikasa didn’t seem to favor Levi very much, but she kept any comments she might’ve had to herself. And Hanji, too - she met Eren a month later, and it was all Levi could do to stop her from squeezing him to death with her hugs. She now insists on coming with Levi every time he mentions that he's going to be seeing Eren, and even though he's made it very clear that he would like _some_ alone time with Eren every now and then, Hanji doesn't seem to get it. That, or she's just purposefully being bothersome.

                Every single passing day, it feels like Levi’s falling even further in love with Eren. And every single passing day, Levi thinks it impossible for him to love Eren any more than he already does. But it still happens, Eren becomes all that much harder to stay away from each second that comes and goes, Eren fills even more of his mind than he had just a moment before.

                Levi still wears the necklace he’d received from Eren - it’s around his neck right now, the locket pressing tightly against his chest and Eren’s cheek. Eren’s eyes are shut, below him, and his hair’s been pushed back so that Eren can look up at Levi without any difficulty. He looks young, but compared to the pictures that sit in Levi’s locket - Levi _maybe_ finds himself looking at those pictures every night before bed - Eren _does_ look considerably older. His forehead wrinkles slightly when he raises his eyebrows now, and his skin is drier than it had been - it didn’t start until just this month, but Eren’s begun to complain about his constant need of moisturizer. He also squints when he reads, but Levi’s not sure if that’s a new thing or not. Eren doesn't read too often, much less in front of other people.

                Levi, on the other hand, is _far_ more obvious. Eren likes to point it out, coming up behind him when he least expects it and pluck a white hair from his head - which, Levi’s told him to stop _countless_ times, because if he doesn’t, Levi’s going to be bald by the time that Eren’s finished - and he sniggers every time Levi has difficulty standing up. Levi knew that aging would be hell, but he didn’t think that he’d feel like he was sixty years old at only what he assumes to be nineteen.

                Life’s going to be hard, like this - but if Eren’s around, Levi _supposes_ he could deal with the pain. Eren has much the same issues as Levi, but they both prefer to pick and choose what they'll tease their other half about - for Eren, he likes to laugh at Levi's whitening hair and his aching lower back. Levi has a more wider range that he likes to choose from - sometimes he teases Eren about his weakening eyesight, sometimes it's his dry skin, sometimes it's the wrinkled forehead that shows itself when Eren's surprised. Neither of them ever really seem to take true offense to the other's words, though.

                “Eren?” Levi murmurs, running a hand over Eren’s face. Eren slowly moves his head back, resting his chin on Levi’s chest. His eyes are as bright as ever, a honey-colored yellow that Levi wouldn’t mind staring at for another hour or two or three or four.

                “Mm?”

                “I love you.”

                “I love you, too, Levi,” Eren murmurs, squirming his way up just high enough to press a kiss to Levi’s lips. Levi returns the kiss - it’s nothing more than just their mouths being pushed together, but it tastes infinitely sweeter.

                Their first kiss like this, with just their mouths, hadn’t been until Valentine’s day. Initiated by Eren, of course - Levi _might_ have been a little bit too nervous to be the one who kissed Eren first. Though, it _was_ Levi who slipped his tongue into Eren’s mouth and deepened the kiss all the times after their first. From then on, it’s almost as if their lips are just _drawn_ to each other. Not that Levi minds. He _loves_ Eren’s lips, and, well, _Eren_ in general.

                He can’t think of a single thing about Eren that isn’t absolutely, one-hundred-percent  dropdead _gorgeous._ All of his flaws, too - in fact, they’re even more beautiful than his perfections. Eren’s lips are chapped, and he seems to have no inclination towards fixing that issue, and he drools every time he takes a nap, whether it be on a mattress or on Levi’s shoulder. It _should_ be gross, Levi having to shed himself of his shirt every morning because Eren’s somehow managed to soak it with just his slobber, but Levi doesn’t even _care._ If it were anyone else, Levi would find a way to make their life hell for so much as _breathing_ on his freshly washed clothing.

                But it’s _not_ anyone else. It’s Eren. Eren’s _different._

                “Your hair is thinning, Eren,” Levi murmurs, his hand continuing to stroke Eren’s hair. His hair _is_ thinning, but at such a slow rate that Levi’s almost surprised that he’s noticed it. Only one or two hair strands fall out per cuddle session, but it’s enough for Levi to take notice.

                Levi wouldn’t notice something so small, so insignificant, if it were anyone else.

                “Have you bought me a birthday present yet?” Eren tries to change the subject, his words slightly slurred from the drowsiness that undoubtedly plagues him.

                “Hmph. Hm,” Levi thinks quickly, not even caring that Eren doesn’t want to talk about his hair loss, “ _Yes._ ”

                “Oh?”

                “It’s a surprise, though.”

                “Can I have an _early_ present, then?”

                “Early present?” Levi scoffs, “Like what?”

                “I don’t know,” Eren slowly rubs his chin over Levi’s skin, “ _You’re_ the one who’s supposed to get it.”

                “What do you have in mind, then?” Levi asks, removing his fingers from Eren’s hair to go play with the hem of Eren’s boxers.

                Eren stops to consider this for a moment, placing a hand over Levi’s wrist. He lets Levi continue to play with his clothing, his palm just lightly holding onto Levi’s arm. His eyes shift up and down, eyeing Levi’s face for a moment before going to look at his chest and then his hand.

                “Levi?”

                “Yes, Eren?”

                “You love me.”

                “I do.”

                Eren nods, before hesitantly shifting his position. He pushes Levi over and down with one hand, shoving his shoulder into the mattress before climbing on top of Levi. He straddles him, sitting on Levi’s waist with his legs on either side of Levi’s body.

                “Hoh?” Levi gasps, placing his hands on Eren’s hips. He looks up at him, and Eren looks _incredibly_ anxious - his forehead is damp with the starting drops of his perspiration, and he uncertainly places his palms on Levi’s stomach. He’s still wearing the default belly button ring that he’d received when Connie pierced him - Eren, although he likes to brag to Levi about all of the jewelry that he’s going to be able to wear, hasn’t actually made an attempt to switch out the silver yet. Levi’s not sure whether that’s healthy or not, but Eren still looks dazzling either way, his cheeks flushed as he carefully thinks out his next move, his jewelry shining under the artificial lighting of the room. There’s the slightest of rolls on his tummy, where he’s hunched over and his navel hides from view under the top part of his stomach, and _good god, is there anything about Eren that isn’t attractive?_

                Eren’s tanned skin practically sparkles above Levi, and it’s all Levi can do not to run his hands over every part of Eren that exists. Nobody should have the power to look _this_ beautiful. But, yet, Eren’s somehow managed to achieve a level of holiness that Levi’s only ever _thought_ could be real.

                “Are you sure you want to-”

                “Positive,” Eren says, “I love you, so why not? And you love _me_ , so. Ah. Yeah.”

                Levi softens his face, trying to help soothe Eren. Eren’s anxious, but they seem to be on the same page right now - even though Eren hasn’t moved at all above Levi, Levi can tell where Eren’s trying to go with this. Eren must’ve had a change of heart recently, settling on allowing Levi to do things to him that nobody else has ever done. And if this goes any further, Levi will be able to claim yet _another_ piece of Eren that nobody else has ever before touched.

                Eren sucks in a deep breath, before setting to work on Levi’s abdomen. He leans forward, placing his lips at the base of Levi’s neck, between both of his collarbones. He does little more than press his mouth to Levi’s skin, a long kiss that sends sensations throughout every limb of Levi’s body. Levi grasps onto Eren’s legs, roughly digging his palms into the richly golden flesh that awaits his attention, running his hands up and down Eren’s thighs and over the fabric of his boxers.

                Eren lifts his head back up with a smooch, gradually inching his way to the left to place another long, slow, sensual kiss over the tip of one of Levi’s collarbones. Eren’s hands are still at Levi’s stomach, and his fingers shake anxiously and curl against his body, leaving light scratches behind. Eren once again moves his head over, another inch to the left, moving the fabric of Levi's shirt over with his chin. He trails down Levi’s body with unhurried kisses. Each kiss leaves behind a little tingle, a little coolness at the loss of Eren’s warm lips.

                Levi curls his hands around Eren’s waist, kneading his fingers carefully against Eren’s bottom. Eren lets a light gasp slip through his lips as Levi works himself around the plush, clothed skin of Eren’s rear, and it’s then that Levi realizes that Eren’s moaning and his panting is the most alluring noise in the world - Levi’s heard Eren let little noises slip past his lips before, but something about it being _intimate_ makes it a million times more magnificent. And that’s saying quite a bit.

                Levi, encouraged by Eren’s pleasurable gasp, continues to work Eren’s lower body with rubs up his legs and around his ass, earning brief moans and giggles when Levi tickles the lowest part of Eren’s back. Levi has to fight a smile from spreading over his lips when Eren has to pause during his reign of kisses over Levi’s collar to bury his face in Levi’s chest and laugh while Levi discovers just how ticklish Eren truly is - his fingers dance over Eren’s lower back, which arches under Levi’s touch and squirms around in a lame attempt to escape the torture.

                Levi doesn’t stop teasing him, though, even when - _especially_ when - Eren's laughing fills his ears and his body wiggling stimulates Levi's erection, what with the way that Eren's hips twirl and his fingers grasp at Levi's shirt. His cock, clearly _very_ hard through his underwear, brushes against Levi’s dick, and it’s all Levi can do not to flip Eren over and fuck him right then and there.

                Eren pulls himself back up into a sitting position, using his hands to pull Levi’s fingers away from his back. He has a slight smile over his face, and he’s blushing more than ever - it’s an obvious mixture of his embarrassment and anxiety, twisting with a touch of having just been tickled. But he doesn’t look mad.

                Levi firmly digs his nails into Eren’s hips, twisting and throwing Eren underneath him, switching their positions. Eren gasps at the sudden change, but he doesn’t try to fight it - in fact, he seems a little grateful that Levi’s taking charge for him.

                Eren bends his legs at the knees, wrapping them around Levi’s torso. Levi hovers over Eren, kissing down his neck and collarbones as Eren still tries to figure out exactly what he should be doing.

                “Hands on my back, love,” Levi directs, pulling himself closer to Eren and placing his lips just below Eren’s ear. He’ll do whatever it takes to please Eren and make his heart stop beating so rapidly - if Eren’s feeling the same way that Levi’s feeling, then Eren must feel like his chest is about to explode.

                “Ah. Oh,” Eren mutters, following orders. His hands go over Levi’s shoulders, scratching lightly at his clothed back.

                “Do you mind?” Levi asks, fingers ghosting over Eren’s skin. He pulls away briefly to get confirmation.

                “Nuh-uh,” Eren stares back up at Levi with soft eyes, “Do whatever you want.”

                Levi gives him a reassuring nod, positioning himself on Eren’s neck. He’d _love_ to do things to Eren that would ruin any sort of innocence left in his mind and body, but Levi decides to save _those_ sort of things for later - it wouldn’t leave a good impression, for his virginity to be taken by means of whips and handcuffs.

He parts his lips slightly, choosing a spot just above Eren’s collarbones. He sucks on his skin, breaking the action up with light kisses every now and then - he lets Eren’s soft gasps guide him along as he moves his hands down to play with Eren’s thighs again, hands curling around the skin and touching him in places that, undoubtedly, nobody’s ever touched before, if Eren’s stiff muscles and hesitant moans are any signs to go by.

                Eren removes his palms from Levi’s back briefly, grabbing the end of his underwear and squirming his way out of them. Levi helps him, letting go of the skin he was nibbling on and pulling Eren’s boxers from his body. They fall to the floor by them, and if Levi thought Eren looked divine while clothed, then Eren really _is_ a heavenly creature when he’s undressed.

                Eren has a tendency to wear large shirts and tight pants, despite the rising temperature outside. And that’s fine and all, Eren’s _beautiful_ that way, with how he grips onto the ends of his sleeves and bites his lip when he’s nervous, and how he sometimes has to waddle when he moves because his pants are suffocating his legs. But _this -_ Eren’s legs so well tanned and so widely spread, his hips just right for taking what Levi’s capable of giving, his upper body toned but not too built - it’s exactly what Levi’s always wanted. He’s always wanted someone who would give their all so unselfishly, someone whose back will arch so high off of the mattress and someone whose face flushes the deepest of reds while not ruining the natural adorableness that they behold.

                Eren is beyond compare. Any of Levi’s past lovers, the one-night stands, the people he’s lured into his bed only for them to leave before the break of daylight, and even _Petra_ \- they’re _nothing_ compared to this. Any of Levi’s feelings towards any of those people are _nothing_ when he remembers _Eren_ and everything that accompanies Eren.

                Levi, in order to appease Eren, shrugs off his _own_ shorts, where they fall on top of Eren’s at the ground. Eren seems a little calmer as Levi does this, but Levi can’t help but give a little laugh at the way that Eren’s eyes widen even _more_ when Levi turns around to face Eren. Levi’s finally left with only an unbuttoned dress shirt on, his cock hard and throbbing as his mind starts thinking of Eren and how irresistible Eren’s going to look underneath him. He _already_ looks impossibly well, with his yellow eyes big and round, his cheeks pink and his legs spread, dick pressing to his stomach and sweat on his forehead.

                “Hah,” Eren gasps, unblinking, “Um. I don’t think-”

                “You don’t want to do this?”

                “I- No, I do, it’s just,” Eren looks into Levi’s eyes with a slight smile, “Nervous, yeah? I, uh, you’re so _big_ , and I’m still a virgin, I don’t know if it’ll, um. _Fit_.”

                “You’ll be fine, love,” Levi murmurs, putting himself back over Eren’s body. He’s trying his absolute hardest not to laugh right now - Eren looks so genuinely afraid, it’s nothing if not adorable and, admittedly, _arousing_. He places a hand next to Eren’s head, gripping onto the mattress. “If you want me to stop, just say so.”

                Eren reaches up and rubs over Levi’s chin, giving him another kiss on the lips. He dives right into it, and he shoves his tongue in Levi’s mouth, moaning as he traces over the inside of Levi’s cheeks. He grasps Levi’s hair, a little too roughly for Levi’s liking, but he doesn’t say anything - he can’t, really, with how far Eren’s gone inside his throat and with how tightly he pulls on Levi’s head.

                Levi massages up and down Eren’s spine, opening his mouth wider and letting Eren do what he wants to with him. He pulls back every so often for a breath, which Levi’s thankful for - he can hardly breathe right now. Not just because Eren’s kissing him so vigorously, though. Eren has continuously been so breathtaking with every little thing that he does, Levi’s just surprised that he hasn’t fainted in front of him yet.

                It’s worth it, though. It’s _all_ worth it. For Eren.

                Eren’s head tilts to the side, his nose burying itself against the far side of Levi’s cheek. The kiss is sloppy, with very little coordination as Eren and Levi both try to get as much of their lover tasted and felt and _marked_ all at once, as they both try to claim each other as theirs forever.

                Nobody else could live up to _this_ feeling, the feeling of Eren on Levi’s mouth, of his fingers carding through his hair, of skin touching skin, of their breaths mingling together. They’re squeezed into the small space of a twin-sized bed, but really, they could be stuck in a cardboard box and this moment would still be perfect.

                “Do you have any condoms?” Levi grunts, his voice just above a whisper when Eren finally pulls away, panting and gasping.

                “Uh-huh,” Eren points to his bedside table, “Should be in the top drawer.”

                Levi leans over, nearly breaking the shelf with how eagerly he tears it open. His eyes skim through the belongings, finding what he needs in clear view.

                “So you were planning this?” Levi asks with an eyebrow raise, digging out one of the condoms and carefully opening the package.

                “Er, well, maybe,” Eren says, his face flushing beneath Levi, “I mean, sort of? I, uh-”

                “Had the right size, too,” Levi comments with a slight smirk.

                “ _Screw_ you, at least I was ready for it.”

                “How did you know? The size, I mean.”

                “Lucky guess, I suppose. Er, I mean, there _are_ other sizes around here, um, _somewhere,_ just in case, yeah?”

                Levi shakes his head, still smirking as he prepares himself off to the side, rolling the latex onto his previously uncovered length. Eren shifts, reaching over into the still-open drawer and pulling out a bottle. He tosses it at Levi, who winces when it hits him square in the shoulder.

                “Impatient, aren’t you?” Levi teases, crawling back on top of Eren.

                “Shut _up_.”

                Levi presses a kiss to Eren’s chin, taking a sort of pride in how the redness of his cheeks contrasts nicely with the tanness of the rest of his body. He has a stubborn look on his face, with his eyebrows furrowed together and his lip curling slightly downwards, but Levi’s willing to bet that it’s in part due to his anxiety towards what they’re about to do.

                Eren couldn’t be more beautiful if he tried. No amount of makeup, no amount of fancy dressing, no amount of exercising or hard work could improve Eren so much - Eren’s simply too marvelous. His skin is so tanned, little patches of paleness at perhaps the most unexpected places - he’s nearly white below his ears, and his ass, though a godsend, is just a tinge lighter than his legs and his lower back. Levi loves it, though, he wants to stain those areas with his kisses and his bites.

                “Ready?” Levi asks, opening the bottle that Eren’s given him. He squeezes a generous amount of the stuff on his hands - it’s very obviously _lube,_ from the looks of things - and starts to rub it over his fingers.

                “Mhm,” Eren bites onto his lower lip, shutting his eyes as he prepares himself. His legs wrap around Levi’s abdomen again, and his hands resume their reign over Levi’s shoulder blades.

                Levi pauses for a moment - Eren’s unreal. He _can’t_ be real. There’s no way that a single person could look so _attractive,_ with their eyes squeezing shut, only to open back up and widen to the size of the moon after each clench, and their hair thrown about recklessly as their head rubs up and down the mattress. Eren extends his neck back, showing off the contours of his collar.

                But Eren _is_ real. And he’s all Levi’s.

                Levi slides a finger inside Eren, and the reaction is immediate - Eren moans, letting go of his lower lip and clutching onto the back of Levi’s shirt for dear life.

                Levi moves slowly, allowing Eren the opportunity to get used to each and every different motion. He tries not to do too much to him, seeing as how Eren’s nearly getting off on just one finger, but Eren seems to be encouraging him to keep going. His head’s thrown back, his hips rutting up against Levi’s hand.

                Levi gently puts another finger inside, muttering for Eren to stop moving. Eren ignores him with a lengthy groan, but he _does_ calm his movements a bit - only for him to start right back up as Levi finds his prostate and fingers it, growing addicted to the way that Eren twists and twirls underneath Levi’s body.

                “Uhn, _Levi_ ,” Eren gasps, his voice so low that Levi wouldn’t have heard if he weren’t right next to Eren’s mouth.

                Levi slides _one_ more finger in, earning a pleasurable pant from Eren’s mouth. Eren pushes himself down on Levi’s fingers, gasps becoming more audible as Levi stretches him open.

                Levi’s glad that Eren’s sister has a thing for long, late-night dates. If she were here, Levi has no doubt that she’d hear what’s going on in Eren’s bedroom.

                Levi slides his digits out, deciding that Eren’s had enough preparation, his hands going to hold himself up. He hangs over Eren, his arms on either side of his body. Eren returns the act by lifting his legs up higher until they’re just below Levi’s arms.

                Levi sends Eren a questioning glance, and Eren nods. Levi hesitates, licking his upper lip - he, too, is anxious, for this is the first time that he’s actually _felt_ something for the person below him. He’s never cared for anyone else in this way, he’s never before tried to make sure that the person below him is comfortable and okay before he proceeds on with his business. Eren has an odd effect on him.

                Levi pulls his hips up to Eren’s entrance, spreading Eren’s legs even wider and sparing him one last look. Eren gives him a small smile, which morphs immediately into a twisted expression as his nose scrunches and his mouth hangs open when Levi gradually shoves himself inside.

                “Ah, _Levi,_ ” Eren gasps, his volume considerably louder than when it had just been his fingers inside of him. Levi halts, glancing up at Eren’s face to get the go-ahead signal. “ _Move._ ”

                Levi complies, shifting his lower half back just far enough to be able to push himself quickly in with enough force to make Eren moan _even louder._ The bed creaks with their movements, covering a good portion of Eren’s cries, but Levi’s close enough that it wouldn’t matter how loud the bed squeaks. Eren’s mouth is practically right next to Levi’s ear.

                Levi’s already in love with Eren’s voice, but hearing him like _this,_ flushing and stuttering, his back arching and his breaths coming out sporadically - Levi can’t get enough. He wants _more._

                Levi picks up a steady rhythm, thrusting back into Eren and never _fully_ leaving his body. One of Eren’s legs falls away from where it was tightly knit to Levi’s waist, and he slowly comes undone, his eyes glazed over and his hair sticking to his face. His head slams over and over into the pillows above him, jolting movements that cause the fluffy objects to fall onto the hardwood floor right next to their discarded underwear.

                Levi works him up, trying to get Eren off first - he curls one of his hands around Eren’s otherwise forgotten cock, flicking his wrist in time with his thrusts. Eren’s speech is slurred, as he tries to tell Levi _something -_ it sounds like he’s asking for _more, more, more._

                And Levi can do just that.

                Levi grunts with each sudden rut of his hips forward, his body moving on its own in response to Eren’s. Eren’s much louder than Levi, and with all the noise about them, Levi wouldn’t be surprised if the entire neighborhood could hear them.

                Eren removes one of his hands from around Levi’s back, and he puts it up to his mouth and bites down on it. It looks painful, but Eren seems to find some sort of comfort in it - his nose is still scrunched and his eyebrows remain knit together, but his eyes themselves are shaded a dark yellow, coated with pleasure, and he doesn’t try to stop any of this. He seems to like it, urging Levi on with a foot nudging at his back and a loud whimper after every flick of his cock.

                Eren lets himself fall apart after a few quick tugs of Levi’s hand up his dick, and Levi follows suit, unable to handle the sight of his gorgeous little Aphrodite so flushed, so red, so _beautiful,_ stained with his own whiteness over his chest and belly.

                Levi finishes with a pant, staying above Eren with trembling elbows for a few moments to collect his breaths. Eren does similar, gulping and gasping as Levi gradually removes his cock from inside of him.

                “Are you hurt?” Levi whispers, noticing the strained expression on Eren’s face.

                “Nuh-uh,” Eren mutters back, “Happy, actually.”

Levi nods and tries to stand up and go get something to clean themselves off with - Eren’s a _mess,_ covered in so many different fluids that it’s hard to tell one apart from the other - but Eren grabs the collar of Levi’s shirt and stops him, pulling him down to his level.

                “Oh, _fuck,_ Levi,” Eren gasps, jamming his face into the crook on his neck.

                “Hm?”

                “I love you, so, so fucking much,” Eren murmurs, his eyelashes tickling Levi just below the ear.

                “And I love you. Does this count as your early birthday present?”

                “I, uh, guess, why?”

                “So I don’t have to buy you anything,” Levi teases.

                Eren lightly smacks his shoulder, smiling against his skin. “ _Fine._ I still expect a present on my actual birthday, though.”

                “I can arrange for that.”

                “Do you already _have_ my gift?”

                “ _Maybe._ ”

                “What is it?” Eren says, his breathing still a little erratic. Levi, too, is still recovering from their session. They desperately need to get themselves cleaned off, but just a _few_ extra moments in bed won’t kill anyone.

                “Hm,” Levi twists a wet finger through Eren’s damp locks, debating whether he _should_ go ahead and get it over with - he has an _idea_ of what he wants to do, but he hasn’t arranged for anything beyond the thought of it. “Eren?”

                “Yeah?”

                “You like jewelry.” It’s more of a statement than a question.

                “I do.”

                “What’s your opinion on engagement rings?” Levi asks casually, as if he were talking about nothing more than a bar of soap.

                “I- _Huh?_ ”

                “Engagement rings,” Levi repeats, “You know. For when I ask you to marry me in five days.”

                “Is this a joke?”

                “Only if you say no.”

                Eren’s speechless, pulling away from Levi’s neck and staring up at him with a gaping mouth. “I- Already? I mean, we, I- But-”

                “Is that a no?”

                “Yes- No- I mean, wait- _Yes._ I love engagement rings. And I love you.”

                Levi nods. “I’ll get you a nice one, then. Just, try to act surprised when I ask you to marry me later, alright?”

                “I can do that.”

                Levi pecks Eren with a kiss on the forehead before finally removing himself from Eren and starting towards the path to cleanliness. He takes up the boxers from the floor, and he peels the condom from his length, tying it and setting it aside as he shrugs his underwear back on.

                Eren lies peacefully, his eyes shut and arms crossed over his upper body - Levi doesn’t doubt that he’s about to fall asleep. He needs it, though. He looked so stressed, Levi’s glad that he’s getting a moment of relaxation.

                His belly button ring shines just under one of his forearms, stained with the results of their lovemaking. It’s probably Levi’s favorite piercing, if he had to pick one - not only was he present when Eren received it, but it helped Levi to understand a wholly different part of Eren’s life that wasn’t present in the way that he stumbles along through the other aspects of his life. Although Eren was scared and nervous as the piercing was given to him, he wasn’t willing to back away. Levi likes that part of Eren - the part that’s determined to get what he wants done, however afraid he might be.

                And, as a bonus, the navel piercing is in a rather provocative spot - Levi _loves_ Eren’s stomach, even though it’s little more than muscle, tanned skin, and silver jewelry. Maybe once Eren’s a bit more used to making love, they’ll find a way to incorporate his piercings into their activities somehow - Levi wouldn’t mind attaching his mouth to the unnatural holes of Eren’s body. At all.

                Levi exits through Eren’s door, tiptoeing into the hallway. The staircase that leads downstairs is just to his left. He’s been through Eren’s house enough times to have figured out where everything is - he knows that Mikasa’s bedroom is right across from Eren’s, and to the right is their little kitchen. Beside Eren’s room is a small laundry area, which Levi heads into.

                He shrugs his shirt off, deciding that it - and, well, his underwear, too, but that can hold on until later, when Levi has an alternate set of clothing to put on - needs to be cleaned. He’s about to set to work washing, but he stops in his tracks, just as he reaches for the laundry detergent.

                Eren comes first. His clothing, second.

                Levi grabs a towel from the laundry room, rushing with quiet steps back to Eren. Eren’s snoozing - in fact, he’s knocked out _cold,_ drooling and breathing through his mouth. Levi unfolds the towel in his arms, and he slowly untangles Eren’s arms, spreading them out at his sides. He gently scrubs Eren free of the cum and the spit and the sweat that taints his otherwise beautiful skin, wiping Eren down. He then finishes off with a few pats down his _own_ body - he’ll have to find a way to lure Eren into a shower as soon as he can, but for now, Eren should be fine while he sleeps. They might have to wash the bedsheets as well, but all of _that_ can wait until morning. A few questionable glances from Mikasa won’t kill them.

                Levi’s most certainly going to buy Eren a ring. He doesn’t regret revealing his proposal plans to him, not one bit - in fact, he’s _glad_ that he did. It gives him a boost of confidence, knowing that Eren’s just as ready to marry him as he is to marry Eren. Levi wouldn’t ever _consider_ marrying Eren this early into their relationship, if it weren’t so obvious that they were meant to be. Levi can’t think of a single other person who could be bringing about the aging in him, because there’s not a single other person who Levi so immediately fell for and cared about. The second he saw Eren, he knew that there was _something_ weird going on.  

                It’s almost perturbing, how fast they’ve been aging. Levi knew that they’d find themselves feeling older, but at this rate? Levi’s surprised that anyone has ever lived past the age of _thirty._

Levi doesn’t really care, though. He’s fine with it, even if he looks like a raisin when he hits his early twenties.

                Eren’s worth it.

                                                                                                             ~|~

                “Hey, Levi?” Eren asks, eyeing the little store that lies nearby. He holds a plastic shopping bag, inside of which lies a fuckton of jewelry for not only Eren’s ring finger, but also for his belly and his ears and, really, every other part of his body. He’d even managed to convince Levi to buy him some anklets, though Eren never really wears pants short enough to show off the skin of his legs.

                “Hm?”

                “What’s your opinion on tattoos?”

                “What, for you?” Levi takes a drink from the coffee he’s holding - he holds onto the lid with the tips of his fingers, and Eren’s honestly surprised that it hasn’t fallen from his grip yet.

                “No, for _you,_ ” Eren offers, motioning towards the little store where he’d gotten his belly button piercing from. “I’m sure Connie would _love_ to put some ink on you.”

                “No way in hell.”

                “Why?” Eren whines, “You’ll look so _handsome._ I have a thing for tattoos, you know.”

                “Is that why you like Connor so much?” Levi says with an eyeroll.

                “ _Connie_ ,” Eren corrects, “And that’s beside the point. The point is, you’ll look incredible.”

                Levi gives Eren a halfhearted glare, then he shifts his eyes, looking over at the tattoo parlor.

                “What kind of tattoo would I get?” Levi muses.

                Eren thinks for a moment, before spouting the first thing that comes to mind. “A dragon.”

                “A dragon?” Levi echoes.

                “Yeah,” Eren says, “I think they’re cool.”

                “No,” Levi sighs, starting to walk away in the direction opposite of the tattooing store. Eren grabs his arm and pulls him back.

                “What about a puppy, then?”

                “No.”

                “A butterfly.”

                “No.”

                “ _Me_.”

                “No.”

                “What about wings?”

                “Wings?”

                “Like chicken wings.”

                “ _No._ ”

                “I’m kidding,” Eren whirls Levi around and hunches over, lying his head on Levi’s shoulder. “Bird wings, then. Or maybe angel wings. Last time I looked, Connie had this really pretty design he’d drawn with wings.”

                “Oh?”

                “Yeah,” Eren says, “It’s like, one wing was blue and one was white. They kind of overlapped each other, I think you’d really like it. _I_ really liked it.”

                Eren looks at Levi’s face - he seems to be actually considering it, sipping on his drink with an otherwise neutral expression rather than the disgust that had painted his face at all of Eren’s previous suggestions. Eren interlocks their arms, slowly pulling Levi over to the tattooing place with small steps.

                Levi gives Eren a knowing stare, shrugging and saying, “You know what? I might do just that.”

                “Yay!”

                “I will _not_ get the tattoo from Connor, though.”

                “It’s _Connie._ And I still don’t understand why you don’t like him, Levi.”

                “I just don’t.”

                “We’re getting _married_ , Levi. There’s no reason to be _jealous_ ,” Eren teases with a wink.

                Levi shakes his head, and he spews nonsense from his lips, trying to deny that he’s at all envious. Eren knows better, though.

                Eren’s only known Levi for so long, but he loves him. And Levi loves him back.

                That’s all that really matters, anyways. The fact that they wake up feeling sore and achy, the fact that they’re practically shedding their hair like dogs, the gross wrinkles that show up on their hands - none of that is important. Eren feels like his body’s separate from his heart - his heart is youthful and still likes to drink sugary sodas, it still likes late cuddles and kisses on the neck. His body’s a different story - Eren’s already really clumsy, which doesn’t combine well with the fact that he’s nineteen now and is growing older. He’s not sure how much time he’ll have left around - at this rate, he’ll die before he’s thirty, but if he can enjoy his last years with Levi, Eren thinks that he’ll be alright. Mikasa, maybe not so much - she ages much slower, Eren would hate to have to leave her so young. But he can’t do anything about it. It’s just how things go.

                He’s fine with all of that. The aging, the clumsiness, the white hairs - he can handle that.

                He can handle _anything,_ now.

**Author's Note:**

> I also have a thing for Levi calling Eren beautiful.


End file.
